Time Twisting
by freakyanimegal
Summary: BKEWxoverBKO. On the way to Mira through the trail of souls, the Sifda is drawn into a strange vortex. The next thing Sagi, Milly and Marno know, they find themselves in Celbarai approximately twenty years in the future... Say hi to Kalas! SPOILERS BURN!
1. Chapter 1

**Well, this is my first Baten Kaitos fanfic. After my friend Holy Spork brought to my **

**attention that there was indeed a hue ****shortage of BK fanfiction, I sprang to the **

**keyboard. Hopefully I can get some readers and writers back into this ****fandom...it is **

**such a good game, it deserves a little love. Even though I have like ten other stories **

**going... . Hey, it might ****help get me out of the block for my others...you never know. **

**Hope you like!**

**Guillo: How can they like it? I won't be in it.**

**Me: You're dead you idiot.**

**Guillo: Silence, wench!  
**

**Me: Sigh...well, could you at least say the disclaimer for me?  
**

**Guillo: Even a prancer with a sugarpill wouldn't be this nice.**

**Me:...What the hell does that mean?  
**

**Guillo: No idea. Freakyanimegal owns nothing.**

"Wow...the trail of souls is amazing!"

Milly was looking out the window at the strange pathway. Sagi put the Sfida on autopilot and

decided to go look at the scene with her. After all, he had never been to Mira either. A thought

crossed his mind, he hadn't really kept track of time during all the crazy stuff that went on, but he

was sixteen now. Milly's eighteen, an adult. He felt a little disturbed, his best friend was

technically an adult while he was still just a kid...

"It's really strange, huh?" Sagi laughed, shaking off the thought.

"Like we haven't seen strange." Milly smirked. "But...wow..."

_**Are we there yet? These lights are hurting my eyes...**_

"Aw come on, Marno." Sagi laughed. "Enjoy the show!"

_**Show? The only show I ever liked was when Thoran got drunk, gods that was funny.**_

Sagi laughed, "I guess so."

"Uh...Sagi?" Milly stated.

_**Then of course, there was that time Quis-**_

"SAGI! MARNO!" Milly shouted. "LOOK AT THIS!!"

Sagi looked out the window and gasped. Outside, right where the Sfida was heading, was an

ominous looking, twisting hole was churning in their path.

"Wh-what is that?!" Sagi gasped.

"Oh no!" Milly gaped. "They say that sometimes people end up in different demensions on this

path!"

_**WHAT? Then why the hell did we come here?!  
**_

Sagi ran to the piloting controls of the ship and attempted to steer away from the hole. This didn't

work out as hoped however and they found themselves being sucked into the mass.

"Oh no!! We're going in!!!" Milly cried.

"What do we do, Marno?!" Sagi cried.

_**Why ask me?! I'm just a piece of an ancient god! I don't know everything!**_

"WE'RE GOING INNN!!!!" Milly cried.

------------------

_**...Sagi, Sagi wake up.**_

"Mmmph...I'll be up before you can count to fifty-"

_**Don't give me that excuse again! Come on! Up! **_

"Gah!" Sagi jolted upright. "What? What about the vase!? I didn't do it!"

_**...Sagi, this isn't Gena, it's Marno.**_

"O-oh..." Sagi laughed nervously. "Uh...Hey! Where's-?!"

Milly just got up off the ground next to him, holding her head.

"I'm fine..." she said. "But...where are we?"

Sagi got to his feet and looked around. Wherever they were, it sure didn't SEEM like an alternate

demension, in fact, it looked alot like Sadal Sudd. There was even a faint smell of mountain

apples coming from the shadow of a town in the distance.

"Hey...how'd we end up here?" Milly gaped. "Where's the Sfida?!"

"What the...?" Sagi looked around. "How'd we get to Cebalrai?"

"Cebalrai?" Milly followed his line of sight. "Hey...it is! How did THIS happen?"

_**Well, didn't someone in Komo Mai say anything could happen in the trail of souls?**_

Sagi nodded, "Yeah. They did. ...Well, c'mon Milly."

"Huh? Where-?"

"Well, the ship's gone, and we're not going to get anything done by sitting out here."

Milly nodded. "Yes, I guess you're right..."

The couple walked to Cebalrai and were greeted by a blonde girl about Milly's age.

"Oh, hello." she smiled. "Are you travelers, too?"

"Huh? Yeah." Sagi nodded. "My name's Sagi, nice to meet you."

"I'm Milliarde." Milly said. "Friends call me Milly."

_**Is that why you're the only one that calls her Milly?**_

Sagi was about to yell at Marno when the blonde girl cut in.

"My name's Xelha." she said. "Nice to meet you Milly, Sagi."

"Nice to meet you, Xelha." Sagi smiled. "Hey, do you think you could help us out?"

"Hm? With what?"

"Our ship is kind of...um..." Milly trailed. "Well, we can't fly it, and we were heading for Mira..."

"Mira?" Xelha blinked. "How did you land out here?"

Milly shrugged, "Beats me, one minute we're in the trail of souls-"

"The next, we're smelling apples." Sagi laughed. "Really strange, but that kinda stuff happens..."

Xelha began to say something when-

"WOAH! This is him-? Her-? Meemai?!"

The trio looked over to see another blue-headed guy gaping at a greythorne.

"Yep!" a kid told him.

"..." Xelha looked back at Sagi and Milly. "Anyway, about your ship...I don't think I can be much

help. I'm very sorry, but I'm very busy with...things..."

"Oh, that's too bad." Sagi said as she left.

"Well, that was helpful." Milly huffed.

"Milly, that's not nice-"

"Well- AH!"

Milly had turned on a dime and crashed into the blue-headed capewearer.

"Ouch! Watch it!" he snapped.

"What-?! Why don't YOU watch it?!" Milly snarled.

"Uh...Guys, do you have to-?" Sagi laughed nervously.

"I don't have to watch it, you ran into ME!" the guy shouted.

"Hmph! You obviously have no respect for women!" Milly stuck out her tounge.

"Well, if you weren't such an immature brat..."

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Milly roared. "THAT'S IT! YOU ASKED FOR IT-!"

Sagi grabbed Milly's arms and pulled her back.

"Milly, please, we don't-"

"LET ME GO! I WANT TO SQUASH HIS FACE IN!!"

"I'm VERY sorry about her, sir, she-" Sagi started.

_**Sagi! He- he's a spiriter!  
**_

_Kalas! That kid! There's something inside of him!  
_

"What?" Kalas and Sagi said at once. "What are you-?"

"Huh?" Milly blinked.

"Uh...excuse me, sir, are you a spiriter?" Sagi asked Kalas.

"Huh? You can tell?" Kalas gaped. "Y-yeah...I am...are you?"

"Well..."

_**Just go with it, Sagi, it's too difficult to explain anyway.**_

"Yeah, you could say that." Sagi chuckled. "So...what's your name?"

"Me? Kalas, what's yours?"

"Sagi."

"Sagi, huh? So what's your guardian spirit's name?"

"Marno." Sagi said. "I used to call him by his last name, but now he just likes 'Marno'."

"Huh...mine's named Latara." Kalas said. "She's...just Latara."

"Oh boy...here we go..." Milly moaned.

"Oh, well...Nice to meet you Kalas, Latara." Sagi smiled.

"Woah! Wait a second! You believe me?!" Kalas gaped.

"Well...why wouldn't I?" Sagi wondered.

"W-well...most people think I'm crazy right after I tell them..."

"I know the feeling." Sagi laughed nervously.

"...Hey, Latara." Kalas said. "Say hi to Sagi, would you?"

"Huh-?"

_Hello, Sagi! Nice to meet you!  
_

"Woah-!" Sagi gasped. "She's...speaking to my heart!!"

_**What the-?! HEY! BACK OFF SISTER! THIS IS MY HOST!  
**_

_Wha-? Well, how rude. I was just being polite._

_**Well-...sorry, it's just usually the only who talks to his heart is ME.**_

_Oh, then I apologize for the intrusion._

_**Man you have some stuffy language...but it's okay, I guess...**_

"That...was weird..." Sagi blinked.

"What? You heard it too?" Kalas stared. "Latara and Marno seem to be a bit..."

_**Hey, if you're a girl and you're a male host...**_

_EW! You pervert!_

_**Wh-what?! I was just-! I mean-! Come on, it's a LITTLE bit-!  
**_

_If I had hands and you had a face I'd slap you!  
_

"They don't get along, do they?" Sagi laughed nervously.

"Nope. Don't seem to." Kalas shrugged. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Kalas had spotted Xelha and walked over to her. Why? Heck, who knows. Sagi turned to face

Milly, who had a look of fusturation on her face quick tempered face.

"WHAT just happened?" she asked.

"Huh-? Oh!" Sagi blinked. "Kalas...he's a spiriter. A real one."

"Really?" Milly gaped. "Like Father?"

Sagi nodded, "Yeah, I heard her talk with Marno and everything. Her name's Latara."

"Another girl? Daimon and Latara...hm...are all REAL guardian spirits female?"

_**Ouch, just because I'm not a real one...but I'm just as good, right? **_

Sagi laughed, "Well of course, look at all we've done!"

"Hey, what are they talking about?" Milly pointed.

A kid was talking to Kalas and Xelha had gone.

"They say there's some strange ruin in the forest," the boy said. "Don't know why they want to

see it."

"Hm...strange ruins? Sound interesting..." Kalas looked at the sky. "What do you think, Latara?"

Latara gave her answer and Kalas laughed.

"Just what I was thinking, let's go!"

Kalas ran off and Milly gave a thoughtful 'hm'.

"...Sounds cool!" Milly grinned. "Sagi! Let's go too!"

"Wh-what? But why?" Sagi asked.

"Because it sounds interesting! Let's go!" the cyborg grinned.

"Well...what do you think, Marno?"

_**Hey, why not?  
**_

Sagi nodded, "All right Milly, let's go."

"Yay!" Milly grinned.

The couple found themselves in Moonguile forest and were startled by what they saw. Previously,

moonguile forest had been a peaceful place filled with greythornes. It was now full of monsters.

"H-hey..." Milly paled. "What's going on here...?"

"..." Sagi swallowed. "Something's not right...where did all the monsters come from?"

_**Let's keep going, I think we should make sure Xelha and Kalas are okay.**_

Sagi nodded, "Yeah, with this many monsters, they might get hurt."

The couple traveled into the forest and soon came across a sabre dragon corpse.

"Hey...you don't think they killed this thing?" Milly blinked.

Sagi looked around,"...I don't see Kalas and Xelha, maybe they went in further?"

"Hm...Now I'm really worried." Milly bit her lip. "Come on, let's go after them!"

After a few more minutes they caught up to the other blue-head and teenage girl. They were

standing in front of a large spring just as Sagi and Milly caught up to them.

"You-!" Xelha gasped.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kalas asked.

"We were worried about you!" Milly pointed. "I'd hate to see a couple of amatuers get hurt!"

"Amatuers-?!" Kalas glared.

"Well, you obviously don't look like fighters." Milly huffed.

"M-milly...!" Sagi stammered. "Come on...I mean, Kalas is a spiriter so I'm sure-"

Suddenly, a bright light came from a pendant around Xelha's neck and hit the water.

"Wh-what the-?!" Kalas gasped.

_**Hey...this...is...**_

"Something's coming!" Xelha gasped.

Out of the water burst a giant, eel like monster.

"O woe-laden child!" it said. "You've come at last to the depths of Malpercio's realm."

"What-?" Sagi gasped.

"Did it say 'Malpercio'!?" Milly gasped.

_**Malpercio-?! Hey! Wait a-! Woah, I have a realm? Sweet-! I mean...**_

"PREPARE YOURSELF!" the lord of the spring shouted.

Sagi, Kalas, Milly and Xelha took out their wings and their weapons, Marno's power began to

glow around Sagi as it usually did against tough-looking foes.

Xelha gaped at Sagi. "Wha- what are you-?"

"No time!" Milly said. "Here it comes!"

The lord of the spring began thrashing around, spurting water at everyone. Xelha flew up and

attacked with light magic as Kalas slashed the monster. Milly gracefully assualted the creature and

Sagi-

"TRANSCENSION!"

Sagi nimbly slashed up at the lord of the springs, which jerked and fell into the spring with an

earth-shattering splash.

"...Is that it?" Sagi blinked.

Kalas and Xelha gaped like complete idiots, Milly simply put away her weapons.

"Huh, he wasn't too tough, was he?" she asked.

Kalas refused to show any signs that he in fact was fusturated. The spiriter and Xelha's attacks

had not affected the lord of the springs very much, Milly could've killed it in half a minute if Sagi

had not decided to end it sooner. After all, Sagi and Milly have had far more experience. The fact

that Sagi is a malidieter and Milly is a cyborg helps too...

"The gate to Ar is opening..." the monster said. "Behold, the blessings of Malpercio..."

_**The blessings-? What the heck? The Dark Brethren did NOT give us a 'blessing'...**_

A golden, shining magnus appeared and floated down in front of Kalas.

"Hey...what is this-?"

Before Kalas could touch it, the magnus dissappeared and reappeared in front of Sagi.

"..." Sagi paled.

_**This...is...what the hell is this?!**_

Suddenly the ground began to shake violently and golden shapes began to fly everywhere.

"HEY! STOP IT!!" Xelha shouted.

Sagi backed away from the magnus, which fell onto the ground.

"Who- WHAT are you?!" Xelha pointed. "You, Sagi! And you too, Kalas! Malpercio is the

name of an ancient, wicked god from a thousand years ago!!"

_**Here we go again, the 'evil god' thing. Sheesh...**_

"Hey-! How were we supposed to know that?" Kalas asked. "And how do you know this?"

"I..." Xelha trailed.

"What is this?" Sagi pointed at the end magnus. "Do you know?"

_**This is-! What the-!? Who did this?! Wiseman?!**_

"Well- AAHH!!"

An even more violent gust of wind picked up and before they knew it, they were surrounded by

an entire squadron of soldiers.

"What the-?" Milly gaped. "What are they doing here?!"

Suddenly, a man in armor appeared at the head.

"Girl!" he stated. "It's time you gave back what you stole!"

A soldier grabbed Xelha from behind.

"Ah-!"

"Let her go-!" Kalas caught sight of the man's face. "You-!!!"

Sagi and Milly took out their weapons once more, unfurling their wings.

"If you don't let her go, we'll kick your ass!" Milly shouted.

"What she said!" Sagi said.

The man caught sight of the couple and his jaw dropped.

"Impossible...SAGI?! AND MILLIARDE?!"

"Huh-? Do we know you...?" Sagi blinked.

"You'd better not!" Kalas snarled.

"Impossible...these two shouldn't be-!"

Giacamo's men swiftly knocked Kalas out of commission.

"You two! Unless you want to see them both dead." Giacamo put his weapon to Kalas' neck.

"Stand down. I'm sure the ever-righteous Sagi can't bear their blood on his conscious!"

_**Sleezy bastard! Who is this guy?!  
**_

"..." Sagi put his sword away, then his wings.

"Sagi-!" Milly started.

"You too, Milliarde!!" Giacamo snapped.

Milly glared and put away her wings and weapons.

"Excellent. Put them out of commission!"

Sagi and Milly were both delivered and hard blow to the head, joining Kalas in

unconsciousness.After what felt like a long time, a little squeaking sound woke them.

"Ugh..." Sagi sat up. "What just...? Milly-!"

Milly opened her eyes, "Ow...damn...who hit me?! I'm going to kill them-!"

"SQUEAK SQUEAK!" Meemai squeaked, waking Kalas.

"...Meemai?" Kalas woke up. "Xelha's gone, and it looks like they took that magnus too..."

_**...Sagi, we've gotta get that magnus back. **_

Sagi nodded, "I know. We can't let it fall into the wrong hands."

"Damn it...I'll get you, Giacamo!" Kalas shouted to the sky.

Milly and Sagi froze a second, then gasped.

"GIACAMO?!"

**Hm...that's good for now!**

**Guillo: That chapter was as foul as a clucker.**

**Me: That was actually a pretty good metaphor...kinda stupid and cheesey, but good.**

**Guillo: SILENCE WENCH!  
**

**Me: Review? Please? C'mon! I'm begging ya! It's my firts Baten Katios story!!!**

**Guillo: You should stick to 'Tales of Symphonia', wench.**

**Me: You call me 'wench' ONE more time and I'll recycle you into a soda can!! **


	2. Chapter 2

**OH! SECOND CHAPTER! WOOT WOOT!  
**

**Guillo: Why are you so happy, wench?  
**

**Me: It's a BK story and hasn't died on the first chapter! n.n**

**Guillo:...It might die THIS chapter.**

**Me: Shut up. I can always try, right?**

**Guillo: Freakyanimegal owns nothing...and is a wench!  
**

**Me: Would you shut UP already?! BTW, I'm so happy! There have been new stories **

**added to the BK category! There ****may be hope for this fandom yet! n.n  
**

"GIACAMO!?"

"What?" Kalas looked at them. "You know him?!"

"G-giacamo..." Sagi repeated. "He did say, 'Giacamo' right?"

_**Yep, he said 'Giacamo'.**_

"No way...it must be a different Giacamo..." Milly whispered to Sagi.

"W-well yeah, but...he did know us..."

"What are you two whispering about?" Kalas demaned, looking ticked off.

_You think they might know Giacamo?_

"If you two know him, tell me right now!"

"We...well, we're not sure if it's the same Giacamo..." Sagi stammered.

"Yeah, he couldn't be the same one we know." Milly said.

_**Or could he?  
**_

"Oh shush Marno..." Sagi sighed.

"Who's the one you know?" Kalas asked suspiciously.

"Some punk-kid from the Empire." Milly said. "He's only like thirteen..."

"Oh...so you don't know this one?" Kalas asked.

Sagi and Milly shook their heads.

"Do you have a problem with him, or something?" Sagi wondered.

"Damn right I do!" Kalas snarled. "That bastard...I've been looking for him..."

"What for?" Milly asked.

"...Giacamo killed my Gramps, and my little brother..." Kalas muttered.

"What? That's awful!" Sagi gaped.

"That's..." Milly growled. "THAT ASS! Let's go beat the shit out of him!!"

Kalas smirked, "Heh, I think I like you, Milly."

"H-hey-!" Sagi stammered.

"You're not that bad either, Kalas." Milly smirked back.

"Hey...!" Sagi looked distraught.

"Hey, Sagi, why's your face all red?" Milly raised an eyebrow.

Sagi glanced away, blushing.

Kalas laughed, "Don't worry I'm not coming onto your girlfriend."

"Sh-she's not my-!!" Sagi shot bright red.

_**Sagi and Milly, sitting in a tree! K-i-s-s-i-n-g!**_

_Hehehheheeheheh..._

"HEY! Marno! Latara! Knock it off!" Sagi said.

Kalas laughed, "Anyway...I'm going after Giacamo."

"We'll tag along." the younger swordsman said.

"What? Why?"

"I'd be worried letting you go alone, and we need to save Xelha."

"Oh! That's right!" Milly snapped her fingers. "Off to save the damsel in distress!"

"Let's go. I don't want to lose him." Kalas turned to leave.

"Squ-squeaaaaakkkk?"

"Oh, Meemai." Kalas blinked, "Did you want to come too?"

The greythorne squeaked, hopping up and down.

"All right then," Kalas laughed, "Hop in my cloak."

"Squeak!"

Meemai hopped into Kalas' cloak, squeaking some more.

"Aw, it's so cute..." Milly said.

Sagi stared.

"Er...YOU HEARD NOTHING!" Milly jabbed a finger in his face.

"Uh...okay..."

_**Milly's cracked. You do know that, right Sagi?**_

"Marno, knock it off..." Sagi muttered.

After exiting the forest they headed for Cebalrai, thinking at least someone would have seen the

giant machina ship that carried Giacamo as it passed overhead. However, the village was in quite

a bit of an uproar...

"What was that Empire ship doing here?!" someone cried.

"It went to the forbidden woods, who knows what they were up to!"

"Now, calm down," a graying man said calmly.

_Larikush!  
_

_**Who?**_

_He's the doctor here, he helped Kalas after he got attacked in the woods._

"Doc?" Kalas looked over at him.

"Ah? Kalas...I'm glad to see you're safe, with all that's going on..."

"Well- Oh! Did anyone see where the ship went?!" Kalas asked.

"The ship? It headed for Pherkad, why do you want to know?" the mayor asked.

"Duh! They took Xelha away! We've gotta save her!" Milly scoffed.

The villagers eyes widened.

"You mean she was in the woods, with you?" one asked.

"Uh, Milly-!" Sagi stammered.

"That's right! Duh, what else? We've gotta-"

"MILLY!"

"What?!" she scoffed.

Sagi sighed, the villagers glaring at them with hatred.

"You went into the woods?!" the mayor hollered.

"Uh..." Kalas trailed.

"You've brought misfortune upon us! We-...wait...who...?"

The mayor, along with a couple other villagers, stopped to examine Sagi and Milly whom were

partially blocked off from them because of Kalas standing at the head of the group.

"Aren't...you...?" one woman trailed.

"That's impossible...they're much too young..." the Mayor gaped.

"...Uh...What is it?" Sagi asked nervously.

"Why are you looking at us like that?" Milly titled her head to the side.

"...LEAVE! ALL OF YOU! DON'T COME INTO MY SIGHTS AGAIN!!" the mayor cried.

"Wh-what?!" Sagi gasped.

"Woah! What's with you?" Kalas stared.

"LEAVE!!!"

Sagi scurried out, Milly right behind him. The older swordsman hesitated a moment before doing

likewise and following his companions out of the house.

Once outside, Milly began doing what she does best...

"What the HELL was that about?!"

Hissy-fitting.

"I don't know..." Sagi frowned, "Something's a little off here..."

"No kidding...did you get in trouble here before?" Kalas asked, "They seemed to know you."

"Well...we've been here before, but we never did anything bad..." Sagi frowned.

_**Hm...something's REEEEAAAAALLY off here...**_

_Yeah...hm...I wonder..._

"Excuse me."

The group turned as the old doctor, Larikush, came out to walk to them.

"Doc? What is it?" Kalas asked.

"...Would you mind stopping by my house, later? I want to talk to you."

"Well...we're kinda in a hurry, Doc, we'll stop by later." Kalas said.

"...Very well, I'll see you later." the old man nodded.

The somewhat unorthodox doctor walked off for his home, leaving Sagi a bit perplexed.

"Hey, Milly? Did we meet him when we were here last time?"

"Huh-? No, I don't think so...I would have remembered someone like that."

"Well, I'll catch you guys later," Kalas turned for the town exit.

"What-? Hey! We're coming too!" Milly snapped.

"Yeah, Xelha's in trouble." Sagi added.

"What do I care? She shouldn't have gotten herself kidnapped." Kalas snorted.

Milly's eye twitched and Sagi's normally sweet face jolted into an expression of anger.

"What?" he hissed.

_**He shouldn't have said that...**_

_Um...Kalas? I think you should apologize..._

"Apologize for what, Latara?" Kalas snorted, "It's the truth."

"She's in trouble! Don't you care what happens to her at all!?"

"All I care about is getting Giacamo..." Kalas' face hardened, "He needs to pay..."

Sagi flinched, remembering how his face had held that expression at a time. When Shanath had

had his mother's wings ripped from her back before him, it was a look of blind hatred...

"...Then get Giacamo, we're going after Xelha." Sagi stated finally.

"...Fine then, see you around." Kalas began to walk off...

_Wait, Kalas, they're going the same place, you might as well stick together._

_**I hate to admit it, but yeah, it'd be safer that way...**_

Kalas sighed and Sagi nodded, thought somewhat grimly. Milly just looked confused.

"What? What'd I miss?"

_We're going to stick together for a little bit longer._

"Oh...I hate it when I miss out on the info!" Milly groaned, "I can never hear Marno, I can't hear

you unless you're talking directly to me, and most of the time you guys are all just leaving me out!!"

"Sorry, Milly," Sagi smiled sheepishly, "I'll fill you in from now on."

"You'd better!" Milly huffed, "Now, let's get going! To Pherkad!"

The teen gave a little cheer before walking off proudly, leaving both blue-headed swordsman to

stare after her. Sagi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as Kalas hesitated...

"Is she always like that?" he asked.

"Well...yes, but she's a good person at heart." Sagi smiled.

"If you say so," Kalas rolled his eyes, "might as well follow her."

And follow her they did, before long they came to the nunki valley...which, however...

"It's BLOCKED?!" Milly shrieked.

The man before the blocked passage way began to shake, terrified upon having the raving

machina-girl angered at him. Milly angry is a terrifying thing, as we all know...

"I-it's okay Milly, we'll find another way around..." Sagi chuckled.

"There isn't." the man muttered, "And it'll take a week to break through like this."

The man was obviously a slow learner.

"WWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAATTTT!?"

_**HIT THE DECK!  
**_

Sagi leapt behind a nearby bush, hiding from his pscyhotic girlfriend and- picking up the hint-

Kalas joined him. Milliarde began to do what she did best...she threw a complete temper tantrum.

Kalas grimanced.

"Ooohh...is she always like this...?" he flinched.

"This is nothing, you should see her PMSing..." Sagi paled.

"Yikes."

After Milly's tantrum had calmed, they decided to go back to Celbarai, after all nothing was going

to be accomplished by staying out there. Though the question remained...what would they do?

They couldn't wait a whole week, they needed to get to Pherkad as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, they didn't have any means of doing so...

"Great! So what do we do?!" Milly huffed.

"Er...well..." Sagi thought.

_**I'd bet something could get rid of those rocks. Something that goes BOOM!**_

_...You men all think the same, I swear._

"Wait! I think Marno's onto something!" Sagi snapped his fingers.

"What? Like find some explosives? In a village like this?" Kalas asked.

"Huh?" Milly blinked, "I guess that would work, but..."

"Come to think of it...I did see some gunpowder in Larikushs home..."

"Gunpowder? Isn't he a doctor? Why would he have stuff like that?" the girl asked.

"Beats me," Kalas shrugged, "but hey, it works to our advantage."

"Hm...let's go ask about it." Sagi said.

"Well, nothing better to do." Milly sighed, rolling her eyes.

The trio- er...fivesome, counting the spirits..oh, and Meemai. Six. Whatever. Anyway, the group

proceeded to the home of Doctor Larikush. Milly and Sagi looked around questioningly.

"Sagi...wasn't this a barn...?" Milly whispered.

"Huh-? Y-yeah...wait a minute...what's going on here?" he frowned.

The couple observed the home as Kalas talked with Larikush. It was the same place, but

completely different. The stalls which held the pows were gone, as was the hay. Instead, beds

lined the walls and medical supplies did so for the walls in place of the hay and cartons of pow

milk. Sagi bit his lip. This...wasn't right. Something was off...

"Thanks, Doc!"

The couple shook out of their daze when Kalas walked up to them.

"Look, he gave me some blank magnus." he said, "We can't take some explosives."

"Really? YES!" Milly cheered.

"He did?" Sagi turned to Larikush, "Thank you, sir."

"You're quite welcome. Come by anytime." the man smiled.

The group turned to leave and almost did so, until the doctor spoke up once more.

"Ah...young lady, may I speak with you a moment?"

"Me?" Milly stopped.

_**Well, how many 'young ladies' are in here?**_

_Ahem?  
_

_**Visible young ladies, that is. **_

_...You're right... _Latara sighed.

"Yes, you. Mind if I ask you something? Privately?"

Sagi tensed, looking back and forth between the old man and Milly...

"Doc, you're not a pedophile or anything, are you?" Kalas asked.

The younger swordsman all but fell over and Milly shot red, staring at Larikush.

"Wh-what-? No, of course not." Larikush huffed, offended, "Dear me, Kalas...honestly..."

"You'd better not be, for your sake." Milly growled.

"I'm not. For earths sake...may I ask my question?"

"Sure, what is it?" Milly crossed her arms.

"...Kalas, Sagi, may I ask you to leave?"

"No way." Sagi said sternly.

"...Fine then, but Kalas...please, would you mind?"

"Huh? How come I have to go?" the young man huffed.

"I'd rather you not hear it, they may tell you later, if they wish."

"...Fine then," Kalas sighed, "I'll wait outside, okay?"

Kalas exited the house and not a second later Larikush blurted:

"Do you know a woman by the name of Milliarde? Father, Baleheit?"

Milly raised an eyebrow, "Yeah..."

"Any relation?"

"Relation? I am her." the girl tilted her head to the side, frowning.

"...You're Milliarde." Larikush raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah." she said, not liking where this was going.

"...That's impossible."

"Huh? What do you mean it's impossible?" Sagi asked.

"Because that Milliarde would be nearing her fourties by now."

Needless to say, they were somewhat shocked.

"WHAT!?"

...Did I say, 'somewhat'?

"Milliarde of Mintaka, Alfard, daughter of the deceased short-lived Emperor Baelheit, was

seventeen years old at the time of the Tarazed incident twenty years ago." Larikush frowned, "I

lived in Mintaka at the time."

"Tarazed...TWENTY YEARS?! DID YOU SAY TWENTY YEARS?!"

"That's impossible!!" Sagi gasped.

_**Twenty years? Tarazed incident? What the hell...?!**_

"Impossible? It happened, I saw it." Larikush said, "I remember seeing Corelia, Ladekahn and

Rodolfo at the port of Mintaka, watching Tarazed as it began to fall apart...I was one of the few

that remained in the city after the exodus to Tarazed."

"No way..." Milly gaped, "No way!!"

"Twenty years...? That was twenty years ago...?" Sagi repeated, dazed.

Larikush nodded, "...So you see, when she says she's Milliarde, it's impossible."

"No way..." Milly leaned against the wall, dazed, "No way..."

"B-but Larikush! She is Milly! And I'm Sagi, I worked for Verus before-"

"Verus? Why did you work for Verus?"

"Well-...wait, did you know him?"

"I met him, once." Larikush stated, "A very...twisted, fellow..."

_**No kidding. It's no wonder wiseman took him for a host...**_

"...This is...impossible..."

"...I heard you lost your ship?" Larikush asked.

"Huh-? Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Kalas mentioned it. ...What was your ships name?"

"The Sfida." Milly said.

"...Where were you before you lost your ship?" Larikush asked.

"We were headed for Mira, in the trail of souls-" Sagi started.

"The trail of souls? ...My my my..."

"My my my WHAT?!" Milly snapped, obviously fusturated.

"I'm sure you've heard stories of that place...that it leads to different demensions, different worlds,"

the old man trailed, "it is a distinct possibilty...it may also lead to different times."

"...So we're in the future..." Sagi gaped.

_**Holy shit.**_

"AAAUUUUUUGGHHH!!!" Milly cried.

Then she began to relieve stress by bashing her head against the wall.

"...If you wish to return to your own time, seek out Queen Corelia."

"Her? Why? What can she do?" Sagi asked.

"Corelia is very wise in the ways of magic, she'd be most able to help."

"Right..." Sagi nodded, "Thank you."

"You're quite welcome. However...may I ask a favor?"

"What's that?" Milly asked.

"...Until you part, would you look after Kalas? I'm afraid for him."

"Huh? What for?" Sagi frowned.

"...No reason. Now get going, don't you need to save that girl?"

"Oh! That's right! Sagi, we can worry later, right now Xelha needs help!"

Sagi sighed, "Yeah...you're right. Let's go."

_**Twenty years...holy crap, we're going to be in for some shocks...**_

The trio left the house to find the impatient Kalas waiting for them, a look of irritated displeasure at

having been kept waiting so long diplayed clearly on his face. Sagi laughed nervously.

"Uhm...Don't we need to get going?"

"What do you think I've been waiting for? Let's go!" Kalas snapped.

A few minutes later the group found themselves passing through nunki valley. Milly and Sagi were

deeply saddened at the fact the forest still hadn't grown back. If twenty years time couldn't heal

the damage done by Hughes, what could? Mostly, they were just silent the entire way through,

earning unnerved glances from Kalas.

"What are you guys so down about?"

_No kidding. What happened in there?_

_**None of your business, lady.**_

_Well! How rude! The least you could do is say it politely!!  
_

_**All right, then PLEASE stay out of our business.**_

_Grrrr!!! You jerk!! How can you-!? ARGH!  
_

"Well, Latara seems ticked..." Kalas muttered.

"Sorry about Marno..." Sagi laughed nervously.

"Huh-? What-? Did I miss out again?!" Milly cried. "ARGH!!"

It was a minute later they arrived in Pherkad, though the city had not changed drastically. Sagi and

Milly looked around nervously, afraid someone might recognize them. They didn't need that...

"Let's head for the capital building." Kalas said. "The ship's right there."

"Yeah. Okay. Right." Milly muttered.

"Hm? Hey, are you listening?" the man asked.

"Yes. Sure. Okay." Sagi mumbled.

"HEY!" Kalas snapped, "Are we going or not!?"

The couple jumped.

"Oh! Right, sorry Kalas. Let's go."

Kalas rolled his eyes and made his way for the governer's residence, only to find it blocked by

Emperial guards. Millys eyes widened and Sagi groaned a few words that sounded like 'not again'.

"Dammit, I doubt they'll let us in that way..." Kalas muttered.

"We should look for another way in." Sagi looked around, "But...er..."

"STOP RIGHT THERE YOU LITTLE BRAT!!"

The group turned in time to see a young boy being chased after (And seemingly caught) by an

infuriated looking woman. The boy grinned at her, taking part in a little bow.

"Palolo the third, Master of Shadows, at your service!"

_**WHAT?!  
**_

"Oh you have _got _to be kidding me..." Milly muttered.

**That's enough for now. Sorry it took so long. I forgot a few things that happened...**

**Guillo: An excuse is an excuse, wench.**

**Me: Oh shut up, tin-can!**

**Guillo: Make me, wench!  
**

**Me: Can-opener!  
**

**Guillo: Brat!  
**

**Me: Garbage can!  
**

**Guillo: Why you little-!!  
**

**Me: HAH! I win! XP Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Capitulo tres! Feliz! n.n**

**Guillo: What the hell-?**

**Me: Dude, Wacho sent a letter in spanish, okay? **

**Guillo: Come to think of it, the brat did send Sagi a letter in that **

**language...**

**Me: Yeah, I was stunned too...heheheh...**

**Guillo: Freakyanimegal owns nothing.**

**Me: On with the chapter!  
**

Well, they had lost track of the so called 'Master of Shadows' when the kid

had made a run for it. After the woman gave them some valuble information

on how to enter the manor, they had decided it would be best to look for the

boy. So far, they had no luck in finding him, that is, until Kalas spotted him

going into a house...

"There!" Kalas shouted.

"Quick, let's follow him." Sagi said.

"Got it!" Milly said.

The trio ran after the child and into the house, which was bare...

"Huh...I could've sworn he-"

POOF!

"What're you doin' here, man? This is my place."

The boy had appeared, looking at them with an expression of bemusement

that was identical to that of Palolo the second. Milly groaned and Sagi

flinched. No doubt, this was his kid...

"Oh! Palolo!" Kalas said, "Hey, we wanted to ask you something."

"Huh? Like what?" he asked, head tilted to the side.

"Do you really know how to sneak into the Governer's Manor?"

"Yeah, I do, so what?" the boy smirked.

"I don't suppose you're gonna tell us, are ya?" Milly sighed.

"Hm...well, I suppose I could, but why would you want to go in there?"

_**It's really none of his business, now is it?  
**_

_We have to save Xelha!  
_

"Save a girl, huh? Isn't that noble." Palolo laughed.

Kalas flinched, then muttered to Latara.

"Hey! Why'd you say that? He thinks I said it...!"

_Oh, sorry... I guess I was thinking a little too loud..._

Kalas groaned.

"Well, I guess I can let you in...for a price," Palolo grinned.

"Ugh, I hate this kid already..." Milly mumbled.

"A price?" Sagi asked.

"Loot. Bring me loot, I'll show you a way in, got it?" he said.

"Loot? What kinda loot?" Kalas asked.

"Hm...I know! How about rainbow spider webs?"

"Huh? Where can we get those?" Sagi wondered.

"In the valley you can find some, take 'em from the spiders. Duh."

_**Little brat...**_

"Hm...well, all right. If we don't have a choice..." Kalas sighed.

"Why don't we just beat the kid up until he tells us how to get in?" Milly

asked, smirking evilly at the boy.

_**AMEN!**_

_Honestly..._

"Milly! We can't do that, he's just a kid-"

POOF!

"Well welly welly well, what've we got here?" a voice said.

"AH!" Palolo III cried, "D-DAD!!"

"HOLY-!!" Milly cried.

Palolo the Second, now a man in his mid-thirties, looked down at his

offspring with a scowl.

"I told you not to talk to strangers, kid!" he scoffed.

Palolo hadn't changed that drastically despite the fact he was the same height

as Kalas. He was still a thin, scrawny type of fellow, his hair still held its

shape in that bizarre style, and his clothes were the same.

"B-but Dad!" the child stammered, "I- you see-"

"PALOLO!?" Milly shrieked.

"Agh! Jeez, no yelling you-..."

The look on his face when he saw Milly was nothing short of priceless.

"HO...LY...SHIT..." he stammered.

"Huh? What is it?" Kalas asked.

"Yeah, Dad! What's-?"

Palolo all but shoved Kalas and his child out the door.

"OKAY! I need to talk with them for a minute so wait outside, kay? Kay!"

"H-hey-!" Kalas snapped.

The red-head pushed the pair out the door and then slammed it before turning

to gape at the couple. Sagi glanced around nervously as Milly looked away,

Palolo's jaw almost hit the floor.

"SAGI? MILLY?" he cried.

"Uh...H-hey, Palolo," Sagi rubbed the back of his neck.

"So...uh...your kid's a brat, you know that, right?" Milly crossed her arms.

"No WAY...you're real!" he gaped.

_**Give the man a prize, sheesh, I thought he was smart...**_

"See...um...we were going through the trails of souls..." Sagi started.

"Yeah, and we kinda got sucked into this wormhole type thing and...here we

are." Milly rubbed the back of her neck.

Palolo gaped at them.

"No way! You mean to tell me- that you're- you're from the past..."

"Well, _obviously,_" Milly huffed, "What was your first hint?"

"Yep, that's Milly," Palolo rolled his eyes, "I can't believe this...you haven't

aged a day..."

"Well, you sure have," Sagi laughed, "You're a dad now, huh?"

"Huh-? Oh, yeah..." he smirked, "Two, actually...Lolo's not a bad chick-"

"LOLO?!" the pair shrieked, "YOU MARRIED LOLO!?"

"Sure did!" he grinned, "Moved out here a few years ago, then we kinda..."

_**Screwed?  
**_

"You got married?" Sagi asked.

"Well, er, see...first we kinda...then Junior came around so we had to-"

Sagi blushed and Milly smacked herself in the face.

"Er-! Yeah, anyway! Um...what're you going to do? I mean, you're in the

future-" he tried to change the subject.

"We're going to try to see Corellia," Sagi said, "she knows the most about

this kinda stuff, so..."

"Ah, yes, ol' Queenie," Palolo nodded.

"How's she doing?" Milly asked.

"To be honest? No idea. I haven't checked up with anyone for a long time,

'cept for Pops," he shrugged, "and boy, the years ain't been pretty to him...

Though I hear Gib's doing good."

"Gibari?" Sagi asked.

"Yeah, don't know much though...I really should pop in and say hi to the old

knucklehead once in a while," he shrugged, "Oh well, look, if you want to get

to Anuenue, you're gonna have to stop by Diadem first. The trasnport here

only goes to Diadem, so try to hook a ship to flower world there, okay?"

"Aw man," Milly huffed, "What a drag..."

"Well, if it's the only way..." Sagi nodded, "Thanks, Palolo."

"Ah, don't mention it...by the way..."

"Yes?" Milly asked.

"...Brace yourselves," he stated sternly, "The world's a much different place

now...well, not so much the towns, but... Listen, Milly, just keep it secret

you're from Alfard, got it?"

"Huh? Why?" she asked.

"Trust me," he said, "Now...if you'll excuse me, I've got to punish my son."

The man walked to the door and opened it, then swore.

"AGH! HE RAN! THE DAMN BRAT RAN!!" he cried, "D'OH!"

Palolo disappeared in a whirlwind, swearing the entire time.

Silence.

"Well...that was interesting..." Milly said.

"Hey, where did Kalas go?"

The couple looked out into the street to find that not only Palolo the Third,

but Kalas had gone as well. They looked around for a minute before watching

said swordsman walk up the street.

"Kalas!" Milly cried, "Where-?"

"I got that spiderweb thing," Kalas said, "I had a little difficulty getting it..."

"You got it? Already?" Sagi stared.

"Yeah, it wasn't THAT hard..." he shrugged, "Come on, the kid said to meet

him at the well."

_**Well? I don't remember a well being here...**_

"Well, we are in..." Sagi trailed.

_**Oh, right, I totally knew that.**_

It was a matter of minutes before they had entered the well and shortly after,

the mansion. The place was crawling with Emperial guards, which made Milly

mad. After twenty years, her country was STILL doing stuff like this?! She

would have thought they'd have stopped after what had happened with

Tarazed...but...

Milly sighed, "This sucks."

Sagi nodded, "Yes, but don't worry...I'm sure everything will work out..."

"Huh? What's wrong?" Kalas asked.

"Uh, nothing..." the younger swordsman chuckled, "Let's go."

After some searching they found themselves at the governers room. Sagi and

Milly hesitated a minute, remembering the battle they had fought here with

Giacamo... It had truly been twenty years ago? It was true, they knew it, they

had seen Palolo themselves. Did...that mean the Giacamo that took

Xelha...was...?

"It's open." Kalas said after opening the lock.

"Huh-? Right! Let's look for that key!" Milly grinned.

_**She always was good at hiding her feelings.**_

_Hm?_

_**Er...nothing?**_

_...Right, I believe that...why?_

_**Dammit, I hate smart people...**_

"There's no one here..."

Indeed, the room was empty aside from a key laying on the table.

"Hey! That must be it!" Milly said.

Sagi picked it up before nodding, "Yep. This is it."

"Great, now-...Someone's coming! Hide!"

The trio split to hide behind various pieces of furniture as two men came in.

One was a fairly young, somewhat weak-willed looking person, and the other

a plump, old man they recognized as Rodolfo...

"Holy cow..." Milly gawked.

"What was that?"

The girl stifled a yelp and hid herself fully, not wanting to be seen.

"Ah..probably nothing..."

"Sir, is it okay?" the younger man asked, "These soldiers here...a lot of the

townsfolk are asking about their presence. They way they're bossing

everyone around and-"

"They'll be gone soon enough," Rodolfo said, "They found what they were

after, apparently, we'll see no more of them. Damn that Giacamo...I never

dreamed he'd become such an aggravation."

"Found...what they were looking for, sir?"

"Yes, some sort of 'special' magnus, in the moonguile woods."

"Eh?! They say that place is cursed-!"

"Who knows, and who cares? They'll be gone soon."

"What of the girl they brought with them?"

"She will be disposed of shortly."

_NO! Kalas! We've gotta save her!  
_

_**I agree, she didn't seem like a bad person at all.**_

Kalas and Sagi nodded, though remained silent as the conversation pursued.

"I see...so what until then?"

"We just wait it out, they'll be gone soon enough." Rodolfo said.

"Yes, sir."

"Until then, I have some matters to attend to, come."

The elderly man left the room with his assistant, closing the door behind

them. The trio whom had been hiding emerged from the concealations, each

of them looking concerned.

"We need to get to that ship," Kalas muttered.

"The ship?! What about Xelha?!" Milly scoffed.

"Kalas, we know you want revenge but isn't Xelha more important now?"

"M-!?" Kalas started.

_Kalas!  
_

_**Have a heart, man!  
**_

"...Right," Kalas sighed, "All right, let's go get her."

"There we go," Sagi smiled.

The group left the room and began scouting the building out for a locked

room. After searching some five minutes, they entered a room to find Xelha

tied up on the floor...

"Xelha!"

Kalas ran in and undid the knots, the ropes falling to the floor uselessly as the

blonde broke free. Xelha attempted to stand but fell onto her hands and

knees, panting as she attempted to catch her breath.

"Xelha-!" Milly cried.

"I...I'm fine...just gimme...a moment..." she muttered.

The blonde took a few deep breathes before getting to her feet and using a

magnus to restore her health. She gave a sigh of relief and stretched her wings

a moment before folding them away, smiling.

"I'm fine now, thanks for worrying," she said.

"Squeak squeak!"

Meemai popped out from Kalas' cape, hopping happily.

"Oh, Meemai," Xelha giggled, "Were you worried about me?"

"Squeak!"

"Hey, you came just for her, didn't you?" Kalas snapped.

"Squeak!"

"I think that's a yes," Sagi smiled.

"Shut it, dweeb!"

"D-dweeb?!" the teen stammered.

"Uh, guys, aren't we forgetting something?" Milly tapped her foot.

"Giacamo!" Kalas cried. "I need to get to the rooftop!"

"Wait-!" Xelha called, "...You'll need back up, I'll come."

"Us too, we can't leave weaklings to fare on their own!" Milly exclaimed.

Kalas glared at the brunette as Xelha blushed, Sagi stammering.

"M-milly..." he trailed.

_We need to hurry, Kalas._

_**I agree, let's go.**_

Hence, they hurried to the sky terrace, meeting only a short delay by the

statues before racing on ahead. By the time they got to the roof the Goldoba

was taking off into the sky.

"No!" Kalas cried.

The swordsman unfurled his wings and zoomed off for the ship, Xelha, Sagi

and Milly following suit. Sagi was surprised actually, his wings felt stronger

than usual...

_**Come to think of it...yeah, they're not as tiring...**_

"Huh, that's odd..." he muttered.

The group landed on the deck of the Goldoba, where Giacamo was waiting

for them. Kalas had his weapons out in an instant and the others followed his

lead, preparing for a fight.

"Ah, how'd I know you'd come?" he laughed.

"It's time for you to pay, Giacamo!" Kalas cried.

"Oh, really?" the man jeered, "I doubt you're much of a threat, boy-"

"Diamond drop!'

"Ah-!"

Giacamo barely moved aside in time to dodge Millys roundhouse kick, the

large blade of ice she had crafted disperssing into nothingness once its use

had disappeared.

"However, you and Sagi just might be..." he growled.

"You know him?" Xelha stared.

"Uh...Well..." Sagi trailed.

"Can it and attack him!" Milly cried, "EAT THIS!"

The mace-wielder began to beat at Giacamo, the man barely able to get up his

defenses in time in order to save him from what would have been an

exceedingly painful session.

"Hah hah hah hah!!" Giacamo laughed.

"Huh-? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LAUGHING ABOUT!?"

"I was prepared for this," he grinned.

"Huh-?" Sagi blinked.

_**MILLY! LOOK OUT!  
**_

Milly, however, didn't hear the warning and was knocked into the nearest wall,

her body causing a dent into the concrete from the force of the blow.

Giacamo cackled diabolically as the creation reared up again, swaying with

snake-like motions. Several others joined it, sparking and hissing with their

machina parts.

"MILLY!" Sagi cried.

"What the hell are those things?!" Kalas cried.

"A little something I salvaged from the 'Tarazed' experiments..." Giacamo

grinned, "I had a feeling they might come in handy someday, if I ever faced

anyone who was strong at all."

"YOU SON OF A-!" Sagi cried.

One of the machina tendrils lunged at him, the teen barely blocking it in time.

However, one thing was certain, Sagi was mad. We all know what happens

when Sagi gets mad.

"Grrrrr...HYAH!"

With a single swipe, the machine was cut as clean as a slice of bread.

"What the-?!" Kalas gasped.

"Amazing..." Xelha whispered.

"You guys take him out! I'll handle these!" Sagi cried, facing the machina.

All of the machina weapons began to lunge and swipe at him, a white glow

surrounding his wings and body as Marno channeled all the power he could

muster to his host. Xelha and Kalas stood dazed a minute before snapping to

their senses and focusing their attacks on Giacamo. The couple battled with

all the power they could muster against the imperial soldier as Sagi slashed his

way through the forest of mechanical snakes, hacking them away like a

weedwacker. After a minute or two, he demolished the last one and ran to

Milly, whom was beginning to stir.

"Milly-!"

"Mm...Sagi...?" she mumbled, "I- WHAT THE!? THAT ASSHOLE! I'm g-!"

The girl attempted to get to her feet to teach Giacamo an extremely painful

lesson when Sagi cut her off, forcing a hi-potion magnus in her face,

indicating for her to heal herself.

"I'm fine without- ACK! Okay...just one..."

Milly used the magnus as Sagi turned hi attention onto Giacamo, whom was

currently battling the other couple. The man turned and spotted the glare of

bloodlust Sagi was sending him, the color fading from his face. Sagi was

never easily angered, that was Milly's job, but if you hurt someone he loves...

Well, it'd be best to run away.

"I don't have time for this!" Giacamo shouted.

Mustering all his strength he swung his scythe to create a huge wind, one that

blew the four attackers clean off the deck of the ship. With a shout the young

people barely managed to get back to ground with their wings, the Goldoba

speeding off to it's next destination without another moment to lose.

_**COWARD!  
**_

_No kidding! We totally had him!  
_

"Dammit!" Kalas said as they landed.

"Guys, we have to leave before soldiers find us," Xelha said, "Milly are you-"

"I'm fine, what're you-?...Sagi...?"

Both females glanced warily at Sagi whose eyes were sending piercing glares

after the Golodba, an unneving, much older look of hatred on his face. One

that didn't belong on the soft features.

"...Sagi, hey, are you-?" Milly started.

Sagi shook his head rapidly, folding away his wings as he broke the daze.

"Huh-? Oh, sorry about that...I spaced." he smiled appologetically.

"...You are one freaky kid," Kalas said.

"I'm not a kid!"

"INTRUDERS!"

The group turned just as the soldiers had spotted them. Milly swore.

"Okay! Time to leave!"

"Right behind you!" Kalas cried.

The group of teens made a mad dash through manor and then the city, turning

a sharp corner and hiding in the well alleyway where Palolo the Third showed

them the entrance. Once they had deduced themselves to be safe, the group

fell to the ground, leaning against the well as they attempted to catch their

breath.

"Whew..." Kalas sighed, "That was too close for comfort."

"...Thank you, for saving me guys..." Xelha said.

"Heh, don't worry about it-" Milly started.

"Xelha, what did those guys want with you, anyway?" Kalas asked.

This question drew the attention of the other couple, whom gave Xelha a

skeptical look.

"...Well...you see...I'm on a mission." she said.

"A mission?" Sagi blinked.

"Yes, I heard that the Empire has been planning something recently, so I

pretended to be a maid and work in the Emperors palace..." she began, "I

heard they were trying to awaken the end magnus."

"End magnus?" Kalas blinked.

Milly and Sagi exchanged nervous glances.

"Yes, there are five in all," she continued sadly, "if they're released, the

ancient god of evil, Malpercio, will be reborn and the world will fall into

chaos. I heard of their plans and decided to warn the leaders of the nations,

so they could try to stop the Empire. The pendant I took seemed important to

their plan...so I took it."

"...Aw come on, Xelha, gimme a break" Kalas laughed, "You're going around

trying to get people to SAVE THE WORLD? Please! Even if it was true, no

one would listen to you."

"...Probably not," she muttered, "But...I have to try-"

"Hey, they'd listen to us," Milly said.

Sagi smacked himself in the face as Kalas and Xelha stared.

"Er...that is...ehehehehe...um..." the brunette trailed.

"You...know the royalty?" Xelha blinked.

Sagi sighed, knowing Milly's blunder was going to cost them someway.

"...Yeah, well, Ladekahn and Correlia, anyway..." he trailed.

"What? How did you two meet them?!" Kalas stared.

"That's a really long story...really long," Milly laughed nervously.

"But you KNOW them? Really?" Xelha asked, hope evident in her voice.

"Really," she said, "So...if what you're saying is true, you...could you...?"

"Help?" Milly grinned.

Sagi flinched, eyes going wide as he saw the coming chaos.

_**AGH! SAGI! CONTROL YOUR GIRLFRIEND!!  
**_

_Huh? What's going on?_

"Yes, I need all the help I can get." she said.

"What? Milly, you don't really believe her?" Kalas asked.

"Well..."

"And Xelha! You REALLY believe these two know two monarchs!? Really!"

"Well..."

"Agh! I'm surrounded by maniacs!" Kalas cried.

"This from someone who talks to his own head..." Milly muttered.

Sagi whimpered.

"O-oh! I didn't mean you, Sagi!" she cried.

_**Hey! I am REAL dammit!  
**_

_Same here!_

"Whatever, you three go off and 'save the world', have fun," Kalas snorted.

The young man got to his feet and tried to leave when Xelha spoke up.

"W-wait!" she stammered.

"...What?" he turned to face her.

"...Please, come with us," she said.

"WHAT!?" Milly cried.

"Er, Xelha..." Sagi trailed.

"The Goldoba looked like it was heading for Diadem, that's where we're

heading," the blonde said, "We...might as well travel together a little longer,

there's strength in numbers."

Kalas seemed to think this over a minute, biting his lip. The swordsman

looked at Xelha's hopeful face, and Milly's ticked expression, and Sagi-...

Sagi was suppossedly a spiriter too, right? Regardless, he saw what the

youngest member of the group was capable of doing in battle, he could be

useful...

"All right, fine," he sighed, "I'll go."

"Great!" Xelha smiled, "Then we should leave as soon as possible."

"She's right, the soldiers are probably still looking for us." Sagi nodded.

"Okay then, let's hurry up and go," Kalas snorted.

"Hmph," Milly pouted, "Jerkwad."

Kalas ignored her and the group made their way to the docks. They just

barely managed to get onto the liner when Emperial troops spotted them, but

regardless, they got away. After riding the ferry to Diadem, they found

themselves in the familiar- well, to Sagi and Milly- town of Nashira.

_**Oh boy...this is gonna be weird...**_

_Hm? What for?  
_

"Sagi," Milly whispered, "What are we gonna do if...?"

"Just act natural, if we see anyone we know, we'll just have to avoid them

seeing us completely..." he trailed, "That's the best we can do for now, until

we figure something out."

"Huh? What are you two whispering about?" Kalas asked.

"Oh, us?" Milly laughed, "I was just telling my Sagi-Wagi how much I

WOVED him!"

The brunette emphasized her point by grabbing Sagi into a bear hug, smiling.

"I luve joo! Yes I do!" she cooed, "My Sagi-Wagi-kins!"

"M-milly-!!!" Sagi cried, face turning scarlet.

"Ugh, sorry I asked..." Kalas said, shaking his head.

"Hee hee," Xelha giggled, "I think they're cute together."

"Ugh..." the bluenette groaned.

The couple walked off and Sagi wrenched himself from Milly.

"Milly-! Why'd you do that?!" he cried, flushing.

"What? Got them off our trail, didn't it?"

"Well..."

_**Aw, is Sagi-wagi-kins embarassed?**_

"Shut up, Marno..." Sagi growled.

They made their way into the fishing town, Sagi and Milly glancing around

warily, concerned someone would recognize them. However, no one even

paid them so much as a glance...seeing as the town was vastly deserted.

There were people, but it was so much more empty than it had been years

previous...

"...Hey, Sagi..." Milly whispered.

"Hm?"

"Look...over there..." she pointed.

"Hey! There's an emperial soldier here!" Kalas cried.

"Shhh!" Xelha shushed, "We can't attract attention!"

"He looks like..." Milly trailed.

"Milly?" Sagi frowned.

"What's he doing here?" Kalas asked.

"I don't know," Xelha shook her head, "He can't be with the one's looking for

us...they couldn't be that fast. We should just steer clear of him, just to be

safe- Milly!?"

Milly had made a mad dash for the red-haired young man by the docks, the

Emperial soldier of whom they had been speaking off for the past few

minutes. The rest of the group ran after her.

"Milly! Are you crazy-?!" Kalas cried.

The young man at the docks looked up, curious as to what the ruckus was

about, only to jerk back in shock as he saw the brunette running right for him.

He yelped but for no reason, seeing as she had stopped just before him. Milly

examined the young man intently, her eyes going wide as she took in his

features...

"Uhm..." he blinked.

"...My name is Milly," she said, "What's yours?"

"M-my name? It's- it's-"

"Just tell me!" she huffed.

"It's Lyude, ma'am!" he squeaked.

Milly's eyes narrowed...Lyude...no...he couldn't be...oh wait. Damn. Yes he

could. He had Lyuvaan's eyes...Almarde's soft face...and seeing as there had

been, er...'sparks' between the two back in their own time...and he was the

right age... No, best not to jump to conclusions...not just yet.

"Right...Lyude...so...what're you doing here?"

**That was significantly longer than the others, wasn't it? I hope it was.**

**Guillo: You updated!**

**Me:...Er...yeah?**

**Guillo: I'd thought you'd forgotten about this story.**

**Me: Why would I-?  
**

**Guillo: Because you have eight others going right now?**

**Me:...DAMMIT! . **

**Guillo: Merry Christmas, wretches!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four! n.n **

**Guillo: Freakyanimegal owns nothing, because she's a wench!  
**

**Me: I love you too, Guillo! (Hugs Guillo)**

**Guillo:...You had too many candycanes, girl.**

"Me?" Lyude blinked.

"Yes, you, here, why, answer." Milly glared.

"Milly!" Sagi cried, "Why did you-?..."

The teen cut off mid-sentence, his eyes going wide at the sight of the red-

head soldier before them. Lyude began to fidget uncomfortably as Sagi

looked him over the same why Milly had.

"...Is...he...?" he whispered to Milly.

"Looks like it," she muttered back.

"Er..." Lyude glanced around.

"Sorry about them, they're um...a little..." Xelha trailed.

"Crazy?" Kalas rolled his eyes.

_**Say it to my face, jerk!  
**_

_...We don't have faces._

_**...Dammit. I forgot.**_

"Who might you be?" Lyude asked, eager to change the subject.

"I'm Xelha, and this is Kalas, Sagi, and Milly," she said, "I apologize about

Milly...she's...er...kinda...well, she does strange things, but she's a good

person. Your name?"

"I am Lyude," he smiled, "Acting ambassador to Diadem."

"Ambassador?" Milly stared, "Since when-? I mean...oh."

"Wow, that sounds pretty important," Kalas blinked.

"...Not at all," the red-head sighed, "In fact...I am completely unnecessary.

Alfard never has pleasant relations with other nations, if any, so...this office is

nothing more than a mockery..."

An emo-induced silence.

"Er, that is...I don't mind. I like it here, the people are so very kind."

"Well, that's nice," Kalas said dismissively, "Well, we need to be getting to

the capital, so-"

"Oh, you're not intending to head through the cloud passage?"

"Actually, we were," Sagi blinked, "Why? What's wrong?"

"The rivers over-flooded, that path is cut off. You'll have to wait until the

water recedes." he said.

"Wh-what?!" Kalas stammered, "DAMMIT!"

"O-oh...thank you for your time, Lyude," Xelha smiled.

"Oh, not at all." he grinned.

Milly and Sagi were instantly struck with a sense of deja vu. That was a smile

too often seen on the face of Almarde...he was the proper age, proper

origin...the chances were looking good.

"Man..." Kalas grumbled.

As the group drew back away from the docks, they huddled to discuss their

next course of action. If the passage was out, they'd have to think of

something else...

"What can we do? We need to reach the capital quickly," Xelha frowned.

"Well...we could check out the river," Sagi suggested.

"What good will that do?" Kalas asked.

"Trust me, when something weird happens...there's always a cause."

"Oh hell yeah," Milly nodded in agreement.

"So...we find someone to lend us a boat?"

_**Sounds like a plan.**_

_I agree. Let's ask around._

The group nodded and set off through the fishing village, Milly and Sagi

continuously looking over their shoulders to see what reactions people were

giving them. So far, nothing...they could only hope they didn't run into

someone they knew. Unfortunately, their search was eventless...well, until

they entered the house. An old woman was sitting at the table, perched like an

over-grown bird over it's branch. Two children sat by her, laughing and

smiling as they urged her to tell them a story.

"A story, young'uns...?" she said in an ancient, cracked voice, "Very well...I

shall tell you the story...Oh? Guests? Make yourselves at home and listen as

well, knowledge is for all."

"Oh? A-all right..." Xelha's eyes narrowed.

"Oh boy, story time," Milly rolled her eyes.

"Now...let's see...I shall tell you the story of the whale.." she mused, "A long,

long time ago it was, when the earth did not fly in the sky, but laid at it's

bottom. There was a huge, huge body of water called 'the ocean', that it was

so deep, you could never get to the bottom of it, so wide, you couldn't swim

across it if your life counted on it."

_**Yeah yeah, we know this. Been there, done that.**_

"The whale was a giant fish, that knew the answers to any question one could

ask," the hag continued, "until one day, a wicked god

appeared and brought it's end..."

Sagi and Milly flinched.

_**OH COME ON! Not this again!  
**_

"The god tainted the earth and sucked up the water, every last drop, the whale

vanishing with the water." she said, "never forget the name of this evil

one...the wicked god...Malpercio!"

Now see, if the lady was expecting some kind of dramatic, awe-inspired

reactions such as gasp or the like. She was sadly mistaken seeing as Sagi

scoffed.

"That's bull!" he cried.

The old crone flinched, staring at him.

"Wh-what?"

"Sagi!? What're you doing!?" Milly cried.

"Malpercio didn't destroy the ocean!" Sagi snapped.

"S-sagi? What're you talking about?" Xelha stared, fear in her eyes.

"And the whale!? I don't know what happened to it, but it wasn't Malpercio's

fault!" Sagi snarled.

"Why are you _defending _the loathsome one-?" the crone stared.

"Oh please! You don't know what happened at all-!"

"Sagi! Stop it!" Milly cried, "What's wrong with you!?"

Milly attempted to emphasis her point by putting her hand on his shoulder,

which to her shock, he withdrew from her, seething. What was wrong with

Sagi? He didn't even know. All this was just...enraging him, as it had never

done before. He knew this is what people believed, yet he coudn't...

_**Why are YOU getting mad? It's MY family!  
**_

Sagi took a few deep breathes, attempting to slow his racing heart. Milly and

the other stared at him in mixed emotions of shock, fear, doubt and concern,

an eerie tension in the air as he finally sighed.

"I...I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." he stated solemnly.

"...My boy...are you well?" the old woman asked.

"Yeah, Sagi, calm down," Kalas said, "What's the big deal?"

Sagi merely slumped, facing the corner of the room as if ashamed. Why HAD

he gotten so mad? It was nothing he hadn't heard before...yet...for some

reason he just...

_**...Hey, are you...sure you're all right?**_

"Y-yeah..." Sagi muttered. "Sorry, I...don't know what came over me."

After several suspicious glances the group left the house, searching

elsewhere for a way to the capital...

"...Excuse me, ma'am," Xelha said to the crone, "I-"

"Watch out for that young man, my dear," she stated.

"...What?"

"There is something not right about him...not right in the least..."

"...I...right," she nodded slowly.

Upon leaving, the group found themselves walking into a bar of sorts...

"Oh, what a warm little place," Xelha smiled.

"Eh," Kalas shrugged.

"Squeak squeak!?"

Sagi and Milly, whom had been lagging behind the other couple out of

caution, were caught by surprise when the blue greythorne in the bar stared at

them, it's eyes bugging out of it's head.

"...Uh...hey..." Sagi whispered, smiling softly.

"SQUEAK!!! SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!!" it cried, jumping.

"What the HECK is your problem!?" a voice cried.

The group looked up to see the person the voice had come from, a short-

haired, beautiful woman wearing a black dress, brown hair, and a face that

oozed attitude.

"SQUEAK!" the greythorne squeaked.

"Oh SHADDAP!" she cried.

The greythorne squeaked meekly before curling into a corner.

"Sorry 'bout him," she smiled, "How can I help you youngsters?"

"Oh, miss, we-"

"Ah! Don't call me miss, it's 'Anna', okay?" she laughed.

Sagi and Milly froze in their tracks.

_**Uh-oh.**_

They looked at each other, knowing that Anna hadn't spotted them yet. The

couple slid behind Kalas and Xelha so as not to be seen fully, panic beating in

their bones.

"What do we do?" Milly hissed to him.

"I don't know!" he said in an urgent whisper, "Maybe we should-"

"We should get out of here, before anything bad happens-"

"Huh? Sagi? Milly? What are you two whispering about?" Kalas asked.

_**Hey, Milly, something bad happened.**_

"...I'm sorry, did you just say 'Sagi' and 'Milly'?" Anna shook her head.

"Huh? Why yes, why?" Xelha asked.

"Yep, see, here they are," Kalas moved, giving her a full view.

Silence.

"KALAS! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Milly shrieked.

"Huh-!? For what?!"

"No way..." Anna gaped.

"Er...ehehehe...RUN FOR IT!!"

Sagi and Milly made a mad dash for the door, only to crash into-

"Hey-! Watch where you're going you-! SAGI!? MILLY!?"

"REBLYS!?"

"...Okay, you're right Anna, I drink WAY too much," the man stated plainly.

"Reblys, you're not hullicinating! I see them too!"

"Oh, well if that's all-...YOU SEE THEM TOO!?"

Milly grabbed Sagi's wrist and attempted to make a break for the doorway

once more, ducking under Reblys' arms as he attempted to stop them

for...questioning. The couple had not gone five steps before Reblys gave a

shout of 'GET THEM!', causing all the sober member of the bar to tackle the

unfortunate pair.

"HEY! LET ME GO! I'LL KILL YOU, DO YOU HEAR ME!?"

"Oh crap oh crap oh crap-!" Sagi repeated.

"All right, you two..."

Reblys grabbed Sagi's collar, lifting him up to eye-level. The boy began to

chuckle nervously, a 'oh damn I'm screwed' smile on his face as he attempted

to think of a way out of their situation.

"Woah woah woah! What's going on here?!" Kalas cried.

"Who the hell are you?" Reblys asked, glaring at Sagi.

"M-me? Uhm...er...well...George. Yeah! My name is George."

"...Do I LOOK like that much of an idiot to you?" Reblys growled.

"Uh...well, no, but...oh damn..."

"Yo! Peeps, what's all the commotion in here?"

The people in the room turned their heads (Though Reblys, much to Sagi's

discontent, did not release him) in the face of the doorway the couple had

been so eager to get to.

"Gibari..." Reblys glared, "We...have someone you should see."

"Huh? Have someone?" he blinked.

_**GIBARI!?  
**_

"Oh crap..." Milly paled.

"I don't know what you're- HOLY GLUBBERFISH ON A STICK!!!"

Gibari's mouth fell open in a most comical fashion as he laid eyes on the boy

in Reblys' grip, then at the girl attempting to fight off the good ten people

holding her back. The stare coming from Gibari's wide eyes landed on Sagi,

whom fidgeted, looked back and forth between his captor and the newcomer

before laughing nervously.

"Uh ...Hey, Gibari...I see you've gotten some tattoos?" he chuckled.

Gibari took out his paddle from a magnus, then proceeded to bash his head

against it repeatedly, much to the stares of the others...

"Uh..." Milly raised an eyebrow.

"Not real. Not real. Not real." he chanted as he hit himself.

"Stop abusing yourself, you idiot," Reblys hissed.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH!" Kalas cried, "What the hell is going on here?!"

"What's wrong with Milly and Sagi?" Xelha echoed, "What's going on?"

"Who're they?" Gibari asked Reblys.

"Don't know, they were with THEM though..."

"Ah...I...I see..." Gibari stared at Sagi some more.

"...All right!" Anna called, "Bar's closed! Everybody out!"

The woman was instantly met with an uproar of protests, some sober and

some not, from the patrons. However, the woman got here way as Gibari

managed to corral everyone out aside from the group...

"...Can you let me go now?" Sagi asked.

"No."

"...Please?"

"No."

"Reb, put him down," Gibari said.

"What?" the man glared.

"Put him down, PLEASE, okay?" the man rolled his eyes.

"...Fine."

Reblys released Sagi and no sooner had he done so had Gibari grabbed Sagi

by the shoulders, shaking him back and fouth violently as the poor boy's

head bobbed like a toy.

"HOLY SHIT SAGI IS THAT REALLY YOU!?"

"Y-y-y-e-e-e-s-s-s-s-s-i-i-i-i-t-t-t-t-t-s-s-s-s-m-m-m-m-e-e-e-e...!!!"

"GIBARI! KNOCK IT OFF!" Milly cried.

"Huh-? OH! Right, right..."

Gibari released his friend, who staggered around for a minute before falling

onto his butt on the wooden floor, Milly shaking her head with a tsking sound

at his clumsiness.

"So...uh..." Gibari trailed, "...gee, I dunno what to do."

"Can someone fill me in, please?" Kalas huffed, "Who the hell are you

people, how do you know Sagi and Milly, and what the hell is so cool about

them being here?"

_I know, really._

"Er...who-?" Gibari started.

"Kalas and Xelha," Sagi said as he got to his feet, "We're...tagging along."

"...What's 'so cool' about them is we know them..." Anna trailed, "But the

last time we saw them was...well, about twenty years ago. ...And do they look

that old to you?"

Kalas and Xelha went bug-eyed.

"Huh-? You're joking..." Kalas gaped.

"You should be older than me! Why-? How-?" Gibari gaped at Sagi.

"Er...well, funny story..." he rubbed the back of his neck.

"...Well, we went in the Sfida and headed for Mira..." Milly trailed, "When we

were going through the trail of souls our ship got sucked into the wormhole

type thingy...and here we are!"

Collective stares all around.

"Woah woah woah, time out," Kalas made a 'T' sign with his hands, "...You

three know Sagi and Milly, right? ...You last saw them TWENTY years

ago...when they were...this age..."

"Yeah, sounds right," Gibari shrugged.

"THEY'RE FROM THE PAST!?"

"Yeah, I-...HOLY CRAP! THEY'RE FROM THE PAST!"

"Bravo, captain obvious," Reblys stated, clapping his hands.

"That's...that's impossible...isn't it?" Xelha gaped.

"Well obviously not, I'm standing right here," Milly huffed.

"...Prove it," Reblys said.

"Huh? Um...okay...er..." Sagi bit his lip.

"Gibari calls his cousin 'Kahn', Rambari was his Dad's name, Celsica was a

Diadem Knight and she had a thing for Rambari until he died, then she went

ballistic and got killed by imperial troops."

All eyes were now on Millly.

"May I also add that Verus was a two-faced asshole?" she bit her lip.

Sagi flinched.

"Huh? What's the matter, Sagi?" Milly asked.

"Uh...n-nothing, Milly..." he muttered.

_**What, you mean she doesn't know?**_

"Marno..." Sagi muttered under his breathe.

_**You didn't TELL her?! I thought you did!  
**_

"Marno..." he growled.

_**Man, I thought you would've told her off the back...**_

_Did I miss something? Besides the whole 'from the past' thing and all?_

_**The dude Milly just mentioned?**_

_Yeah, Verus, so?_

_**Yeah, he was kinda...psycho, right? And-**_

"Marno, don't!" Sagi whispered, though there as an urgency in his voice.

"Huh? Sagi, did you say something?" Milly blinked.

Kalas looked at Sagi, wary and somewhat confused, seeing as he could hear

the two...spirits, talking as well as his fellow blue-haired swordsman. What

were they talking about...?

"N-nothing-" Sagi stammered.

_And?_

_**Well, before the little lovebirds here set off for Mira- which is where we **_

_**were going- Sagi-wagi paid a visit to his mother and **__**she...ah...told him **_

_**about his...origins.**_

_Hm?_

_**See, Sagi and Milly killed the dude, and he was Sagi's fa-**_

"MARNO! SHUT UP! PLEASE!"

Sagi slapped his hands over his mouth as the stares he was already getting

become even more shocked...and a little worried for said boy's sanity. Kalas,

having heard the conversation...

"He was talking to his guardian spirit," he said, "I heard him."

"Guardian spirit?!" Gibari gasped, "Dude, you've gotta be real!"

"I thought we had established that already," Reblys stated cooly.

"Oh shut up!"

"I...I'm sorry about that, I...er...sorry." Sagi muttered.

"...Sagi, are you okay?" Milly frowned, "You look upset about something..."

"I'm okay..." he trailed.

"Well I sure as hell am not!" Kalas shouted, "You expect me to believe these

two are from the PAST!? What, they just fell out of the sky and said 'Oh!

Let's go see who we can bother!'?"

_**Well, we DID fall out of the sky...**_

"Kalas, think about it, it is actually possible, in the trail of souls..."

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Unless I am drunk, they're real, trust me," Gibari nodded.

"...And you're only drunk...half the time?" Reblys smirked.

"Watch it, Reb...watch it..."

"We were heading for Anuenue," Milly said.

"Yes, Corellia is the most able to help, probably..." Sagi said. "But until then

we were helping Xelha and Kalas here...they're trying to get a boat to the

capital, but..."

"Is that so?" Gibari smirked, "Then I'll be happy to help you!"

"Huh? Help us? The river's overflowing..." Kalas trailed.

"Oh yeah...about that," he said, "I was gonna go down there and see if I

could scrape anything up on what's going on down there...so...help me with

this, and I'll get ya to the city."

"For real?" Kalas blinked.

"Oh! Would you?" Xelha cried, "We really would appreciate-"

"WAIT A MINUTE! GIBARI!" Reblys snapped, "You can't take outsiders

on our ships! It's bad luck! The catches are bad enough as it is! We've

caught practically no glubberfish-"

"No glubberfish!?" Sagi cried, horrified.

"...Yeah..." Reblys said slowly.

"THAT'S HORRIBLE!" he cried.

"...Eh?"

"Sagi's favorite food," Milly shrugged.

"Milly! How can you be so calm!? There's no glubberfish!!"

As Sagi went into a state of hyperventilation, Milly rolled her eyes and

commenced to watching Gibari and Reblys argue, Anna rolling her eyes upon

seeing them at it again.

"Okay, now that the little...reunion is over, can we go? Time's tickin'..." Kalas

said, tapping his foot in irritation.

"I'm sorry, but Kalas is right," Xelha nodded, "we really must go."

"All righty then!" Gibari grinned, "It's decided! I'll take you guys!"

"Really? Thanks!" Kalas grinned, "I'm Kalas, and this is Xelha."

"Nice to meet you," the blonde smiled.

"And Latara's here too."

"...Uh...who?" Gibari blinked.

_Nice to meet you!_

"HOLY CRAP! You have a spirit too?!"

"Yeah..." Kalas laughed nervously.

"How come I can't hear YOURS?" Gibari pouted to Sagi.

_**I don't talk to doofuses.**_

_Marno just insulted you, to let you know._

"WHAT?! HEY! NOT COOL!"

**BTW, yes, it's true. Verus is Sagi's daddy. ...Damn they overplay that **

**'Luke I am your father' crap...it's in way too many ****things...heck! They **

**used the same cliche twice in one game! **

**Guillo: How do you know Verus was-?  
**

**Me: If you find a magnus 'portrait of verus' right before you go to **

**Tarazed in BKO, go to see Gena in Sheritan. She'll say ****she wants to **

**talk about Sagi's father sometime, then show her the picture. She'll get **

**all teary-eyed and mutter something ****about 'happy memories' then give **

**you a kickarse magnus. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out, **

**besides...if you look ****at the facial features...Sagi and Verus DO have a **

**resemblance...O.O You have to know and look for it, but I did and I **

**was ****like...O.O OMG...**

**Guillo: Are you done ranting, wench?  
**

**Me:..Hm...letsee...I like pie. There, I'm done.**

**Guillo:...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yay new chapter! n.n**

**Guillo: About time, wench.**

**Me: Oh shut up and say the disclaimer!**

**Guillo: The wench owns nothing!**

**Me:...Meanie.**

"Wow, they weren't kidding! It HAS swollen!"

Milly looked around the banks of the Celestial River with a mixed expression of awe and concern upon seeing the swollen tides of the

body of water, churning foam into the air as it threatened to wash them away.

"Yep, even still, we're going on foot from here," Gibari nodded.

"One slip and you're in for a ride," Sagi laughed nervously.

"Aw, but you two have been through worse, right?" the fisherman grinned.

"Well, that's true," Milly grinned.

"They have?" Kalas asked.

"Sure! Back then, these two were right adventurers!" Gibari grinned, "Went everywhere, did everything, they saved my life at least

twice..."

"What-?" Xelha gasped, "Really?!"

The blond and Kalas looked at the younger couple in shock, Sagi smiling nervously and rubbing the back of his neck as his girlfriend

grinned in arrogance.

"...I don't believe it," Kalas stated.

Sagi fell over and Milly scoffed.

"EXCUSE me?! You-!" she shook a fist.

"Well, it was unbelievable enough with them being from the past and all..."

"True that," Gibari nodded.

"Uhm...we're right here," Sagi pointed out.

"Geez!" Milly scoffed. "How rude! That's it, I'm insulted."

The young 'noble' crossed her arms in a snobbish huff, nose in the air.

"Milly..." Sagi sighed.

"...Oh all right," she rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry, there, happy?"

The other three exchanged glances.

"Uh...sh-shouldn't we get a move on?" Sagi chuckled, blushing.

They got a move on. After evading and/or beating the living hell out of monsters that got in their way, the group made their way to the

source of the water overflow. A large pool was swirling and gushing out water at the root of the river, a strange glow emanating from

it.

"Woah..." Milly stared.

"You think this is the source?" Kalas blinked.

"It's gotta be! Look at it!" Gibari cried.

"This is bad, we should report this to the King," Xelha stated.

"Um...guys?" Sagi said, eyes locked on the water.

"What is it, Sagi?" Gibari asked.

"Uhm...is something moving in there?"

"...HOLY CRAP-!" Kalas shouted.

An enormous fish burst forth from the maelstrom of water, a quick flight into the air the only thing saving our heroes from drowning in

the waves that it made.

"Well, that was unexpected..." Xelha stammered.

"It usually is," Milly said, taking out her cudgels, "Let's get it!"

"Right behind ya, Mill!" Gibari smirked.

The thunderfish (As it was called) though more difficult than the lord of the spring, wasn't much of a foe in Sagi and Milly's eyes, it

was more like fishfry, actually. However, they decided to hold back a little. They had actually decided this before when they had a

rare moment to themselves, it wouldn't due to draw attention if they kept slaughtering anything they found. That, and it was important

the others could get some experience, in case they ever had to fight without them...

"Sparkle of life!" Xelha cried.

A blast of light accompanied by the little greythorne Meemai hurled toward the giant fish, causing it to let out a shriek. Gibari and

Kalas executed their next moves in unison, the fisherman using dragon uppercut as the swordsman performed energy wave.

"GOT IT!" Kalas grinned in delight as the fish fell.

Sagi clapped politely, smiling, "Good job!"

"Hah, it was nothing," Kalas smirked.

"...Weren't you two...holding back...?" Xelha eyed to time-travelers.

"Us?! No! What makes you think that?!" Milly gasped.

"You totally fought better last time..." Kalas eyed them.

"No, really!" Sagi smiled, "You're giving us too much credit."

"Well...hey! This is a THUNDERFISH! They're supposed to be extinct!"

The group looked to Gibari as he inspected the large creature.

"This is bad," Xelha frowned, "if this kind of thing is...we should go."

"Huh?" Kalas asked.

"To speak to the king, it's important he hears of this," she stated.

"Well, let's go then," Milly shrugged.

"Yeah..." Gibari eyed her.

"...What?"

"Er...well, I'm just thinking how you're going to explain to him that you're you, after you skipped ahead twenty years..." he mused.

"...Uh...yeah..." Sagi frowned, "that's a...good point."

"Well YOU believed us, right?" Milly said.

"Well yeah, but I almost had a heart-attack!"

"Blah blah blah, are we going or what?" Kalas asked.

"Kalas!" Xelha scoffed.

"C'mon, we're wasting time!" he shrugged, walking off.

_**...I don't like him.**_

_Well, he does have an attitude..._ Latara sighed.

The group proceeded to the boat and made their way back to Nashira, where Kalas, Xelha, Sagi and Milly would depart for

the capital. However, they met a surprise of very undesired nature when they saw the blockade of Imperial troops stomping around

the town, not a civilian in sight.

"Wh-what happened!?" Milly paled.

"The Empire must've followed us, bastards!" Kalas snarled.

"You there!" a soldier cried, "All civilians must be confined to to the town! Get off your boat and return to your homes!"

"Dammit," Gibari growled under his breath, "not again..."

"Again?" Kalas frowned.

"Let's do as they say, for now..." Xelha stated.

"I agree," Sagi nodded, "Let's go check on the others."

"Grr...fine," Kalas snorted.

The group made their way to the bar, where Gibari had persisted on going first in order to check on his 'beloved' (As Milly teased)

Anna. When they arrived they did not find the woman, rather Gibari's other 'friend' Reblys.

"You're back," he stated, "...well, about time."

"Reb! What happened?!" Gibari demanded.

"Who knows? These bastards just showed up and started ordering us around, just like last time," he muttered darkly, "don't they ever

change?"

Milly's face fell, scrunching her neck to hide her head in her shoulders. Sagi quickly decided to change the subject for her

sake.

"Where's Anna?" he asked.

"Huh-? Hey! Where IS she?!" Gibari cried.

"She went off somewhere, I'm worried..." Reblys sighed.

"But it's not safe," Sagi frowned, "especially with things how they are..."

"Well we'll just go after her!" Milly proclaimed.

"Huh...yeah!" Gibari stated, "I'm with you, Mil! Let's go find her!"

"Ah, what a pain...but I suppose it is the best thing," Kalas muttered.

"I agree," Xelha said, "we should make sure everyone is safe."

"All right then, let's go," Sagi smiled.

"Hey, who made you boss?" Kalas sneered.

"Huh? I..."

"Because he is the boss!" Milly stuck out her tounge, "Sagi's the leader!"

"What?! Who says?! I'm not taking orders from a twerp!"

"I'm only a couple years younger than you..." Sagi muttered.

"Sagi's not a twerp! He's a better leader than you'll ever be!"

Milly accented this point by crossing her arms and sticking her tounge out at him.

_**Yeah! Sagi all the way!**_

"Oh yeah right!" Kalas huffed, "He's a kid! I don't care if he's saved the world-!"

"He has." Milly glared.

"It's true..." Gibari shrugged.

"Guys, stop it!" Xelha glared, "We need to find Anna!"

"Huh-? Oh...right, right..." Kalas sighed.

"Yeah, let's get going!" Milly grinned.

_From the looks of it, XELHA is the leader..._

_**Yeah, I hate to admit it, but yeah...**_

_...Wait! So we don't qualify!? We're just as important!_

_**Yeah! Seriously! They could have to courtesy to mention us...**_

_I know, they ignore us half the time..._

"Would you two stop fighting?!" Kalas snapped.

"Huh?" everyone with the exception of Sagi blinked.

"Oh, Latara and Marno were complaining..." Sagi smiled nervously.

"Oh, I tell you, that still freaks me out..." Gibari sighed.

_Well excuse us...jerk._

So they headed out again, the two spirits complaining the whole way as they searched around for Anna, finally finding her in the fish

storage area. Though mildly worried because she had been mouthing off at a guard, the woman was safe and sound.

"Anna, you've gotta get home," Gibari said, "who knows what these bastards are-"

"Would you please stop saying that?!" Milly snapped.

"Huh? Why-?...OH! Damn...sorry, Mil, I forgot..."

"Oh, that's fine," she hissed icily, "everyone's forgetting..."

"Hey! It's not my fault your people are going around doing all this shit!"

"Well it's not my fault, either!" Milly snapped back.

"Guys..."

"Oh would you all stop fighting?" Anna huffed, "Don't you all have something more important to do? Like getting to the capital to help

out?"

"The capital?" Kalas asked.

"Yes, the troops are here to stop us from getting to the capital," Anna said, "which must mean something bad is going on...I'm

worried."

"All right..." Sagi nodded, "we'll get headed there."

"Yeah, let's go!" Gibari said.

"Yeah, Giacamo might be there..." Kalas said darkly.

So after going back to the bar Anna showed them a tunnel under the establishment that could take them through the cloud passage. It

was, of course, cloudy, making it difficult to see if you were walking or about to fall clear through-

"AH!" Sagi yelped, falling through a hole.

"Sagi-!" Milly cried.

The boy managed to eject his wings and jump back up, sighing in relief as he did so.

"Whew...that was close..."

"Funny, though," Kalas smirked.

"Oh shut up, you!" Milly huffed. "Jerk..."

"Kalas, you...could be a little nicer, you know..." Xelha said.

"Tch, whatever!" he rolled his eyes. "Not my fault if he's such a- AAAH!"

Sagi grabbed Kalas' arm before he fell through another hole in the walk. The older teen blushed angrily as the red-clad boy pulled him

up, smiling.

"You okay?"

"I didn't need your help, kid!" Kalas snapped.

"...Well sooorrry..." Sagi muttered dejectedly.

_**Geez, what an ass!**_

"No kidding..." he mumbled.

"Geez, Kalas! He just helped you!" Gibari scoffed.

"I would've been fine! Now come on, weren't we in a hurry?!"

The cape-wearer trod off angrily, the rest of the group watching with mixed looks of shame, disgust and anger.

"He has issues..." Gibari sighed.

"Yeah..." Xelha admitted.

"Hmph! No kidding!" Milly said loudly.

_Kalas...you don't have to be so mean, y'know..._

"Oh whatever, Latara! It's not my fault if they can't take it!"

_...Kalas..._ she sighed.

"...Sorry, okay? I just...ah, nevermind, sorry."

_It's- ...KALAS! UP AHEAD!_

"Huh-? WOAH!"

He jumped back and drew his sword and wings upon seeing the object heading toward them, a large robotic tank, an 'iron beetle'. It

was only seconds before the rest of the group caught up and prepared themselves for battle as well.

"That's an iron beetle! Why'd they bring THESE here?!" Gibari cried.

"This must be serious, if they'd resort to this kind of machine..." Xelha frowned.

"Shut up and get ready! Here it comes!" Kalas snapped.

"Don't have to tell us twice!" Milly smirked.

"Everybody be careful." Sagi said.

"Let's whoop ass!" Gibari hooted.

The group hurled themselves at the robotic foe, slashing, hitting and casting furiously as they dodged canon fire and the like. It was

hard to get through the outer shell, but not ENTIRELY hard...

"Hyah-! Woah!"

Kalas hit a spot and felt a vibration through his sword, a hollow spot...?

"There's a weak spot right there!" he shouted, backing up.

Sagi attacked the opposite side, finding the same thing.

"Same here!"

"That's it! Gibari! Milly!" Xelha cried. "Get those spots!"

"Roger!"

"You bet!"

Like clockwork, Gibari and Milly rammed into the tank's sides with all the strength they could muster, and of course, Gibari being the

muscle-head he was and Milly's cybernetic strength, it was a LOT of power. The tank almost collapsed into itself and Sagi and Kalas

simultaneously hacked at the cracks in it's armor, breaking it open to reveal an engine of sorts.

"Stand back!" Xelha shouted, "SOUL FLASH!"

Meemai flew up in the air and rained magic upon the engine, which sparked dangerously before blowing into a million pieces.

There was a moment of silence.

"OH YEAH!" Milly hooted. "THAT WAS KICKASS!!"

"Damn straight!" Gibari grinned.

"Good job, everyone!" Xelha smiled.

"Hah, it wasn't so tough," Kalas smirked.

"You did very well, Kalas," Sagi smiled.

"Well of course I did, I'm great like that," he smirked.

"..." Sagi's smile faltered, getting annoyed at the 'elders' attitude.

_**The heck-? It wouldn't kill you to compliment him, jerk!**_

_Uh...you know, Kalas, he's right..._

"You guys made an awesome team!" Xelha said, looking the the blunettes.

"W-we did?" Sagi smiled, flushing.

"Yeah you did," Gibari laughed, "damn, remind me not to tick you guys off."

"Uh...guys? I'm just as hyped as you are, but uh...the Capital?" Milly said.

"Oh! Of course!" Xelha said. "We have to hurry."

"Right, right," Kalas nodded, "let's hurry up then."

The group headed off for the capital, Sheliak, only to find it storming with Imperial troops. They made an effort to sneak by without

being seen, however, while treading past a window they couldn't help but overhear something...interesting.

"What?! But, that's impossible-!"

"It's not. The Emperor has declared war on Diadem."

"But sir-!" the first voice, a young male, retorted. "I've been here the whole time and not once has anything looked to be prepared for

battle! As ambassador-!"

"Lyude! You know that has no real meaning," the elder scoffed, "you were given this 'job' as a punishment, do you not remember?!"

"Lyude? Punishment?" Milly whispered, going pale.

The young man went silent as his commander scoffed at him.

"The Emperor's orders are absolute, do wise to know your place and hold your tounge!!"

"...Geez..." Kalas snorted, "hate to be in his shoes..."

"But this isn't right," Xelha frowned, "why would Diadem attack Alfard?"

"They wouldn't, that's why!" Gibari snarled. "Imperial bastards-!...Uh..."

The fisherman went silent upon seeing the mournful look on Milly's face, then instantly made and effort to smile, if somewhat

awkwardly.

"It's...a shame they're not all like you, is all, Mill..."

"It's okay," Milly muttered, "...wait! So if they're trying to conquer Diadem-!"

"The castle's in danger!" Xelha flinched. "We need to get there and help!"

"We?" Kalas asked. "Who said I'm helping? I never signed up to saving a country-"

"Kalas!" Xelha scoffed. "You can't just LEAVE!"

"Yeah I can," he snorted.

"Oh no ya don't," Gibari stated, "there's too many for just us, we'll need all the help we can get. Even if that means we have to DRAG

you into the fight!"

"I agree! You need to pitch in, ass!" Milly nodded.

Gibari and Milly's threatening glares, coupled with Xelha and Sagi's hopeful ones, (that and the nagging voice of Latara) caused Kalas

to sigh.

"All right, fine, but...we can't exactly walk in the front door, y'know..."

"He's got a point..." Sagi looked around, "...hey! There!"

The younger swordsman pointed to a small airpod several feet away, JUST big enough for the five of them to fit into.

"Good idea, we can ride that up to a window or something." Xelha said.

"There's a dock on the roof," Milly said, "so we can land there, I mean, if it's still there."

"It should be, let's try it," Gibari nodded.

The group spent several minutes waiting for a clear shot, then dashed for the aircraft, barely managing to take off out of range from

the soldiers whom spotted them below. Lucky for them, the dock was indeed there, which granted them access to the castle...

"...Oh no..." Xelha whispered.

"...Not again..." Milly gritted her teeth, biting back tears.

The entire palace was a mess, a din of clanging swords, bullet shots, the smell of blood and smoke, screams ringing through the air,

panic carried with it...

"...I...know we're supposed to find the king, but..." Sagi trailed.

"Don't have to ask me twice!" Gibari snapped. "Let's put those bastards in line!"

"Well, whatever you say," Kalas smirked, drawing his weapons.

"But we have to hurry, all right? Let's go!" Xelha exclaimed.

"Ready when you are!" Milly crowed, her usual 'I'll woop yo ass' grin on her face.

And, as according to Milly's grin, they did just that. Though Sagi and Milly attempted to hold back, they soon realized that that would

not aid the soldiers hence decided to rip the Empire a new one by kicking complete and total- ...butt. The group spread out, the

couple taking on at least twenty at a time while the other three ganged up on groups of four or five at once. The soldiers, though well

trained, were as almost nothing in face of Sagi and Milly, whom had experienced more than most of them there would ever even

dream of, with the exception of the 'newbies', that was...

"PHOENIX DIVE!" Milly shouted, charring several soldiers.

"Rime blade!" Sagi exclaimed, mutilating at least nine men.

"Just like old times, huh?" Milly smiled in exhaustion as she fought.

"Yeah- MILLY! BEHIND-!"

The cyborg upper-cutted a soldier that was coming from behind her, sending him at least ten feet into the air before he plummeted into

the ground.

"Don't worry, Sagi! These guys are amateurs!"

"R-right..."

_**Damn...nice hit, Milly...**_

They continued their assault until they caught sight of the bridge to the throne room from a nearby balcony, seeing the events taking

place below.

"KING LADEKAHN!" the Imperial commander shouted. "Your people have been found guilty of conspiracy against the Empire!

We, the glorious nation of Alfard, hereby declare war on Diadem!!"

"Those-!" Milly snarled.

"STEP FORTH, LADEKAHN! DECLARE A TRUCE AND YOUR PEOPLE WILL BE SPARED!" he continued. "WE WILL

ASK ONLY ONCE, KING LADEKAHN!"

"Grr..." Gibari growled, anger flaring in his irises.

There was a tense moment of silence before a voice called out from the side of the bridge in front of the throne room.

"IT IS I, KING LADEKAHN! I'M COMING OUT, CEASE FIRE!"

The group watched as the King of Diadem made his way out into the no man's land between the forces, Milly and Sagi gasping

somewhat at seeing the King as an adult, though they were expecting it it still didn't make it any easier.

"...Kahn..." Gibari whispered.

That's when a shot rang out.

"KING LADEKAHN!" Xelha cried.

"NO!" Gibari shrieked.

There was a cackling from the Imperial side as a woman with a pink braid prepared another shot with her weapon.

"That's-!" Kalas shouted.

"GARH-!" Ladekahn shouted.

"YOUR MAJESTY-!" some troops shouted.

"AH! Don't move, or I'll shoot him again!!" the woman cried.

"WAIT!" a voice cried.

The red-haired teen, Lyude, ran to the front of his commander, panicked.

"He came out unarmed, as you said! Why did you shoot?!" Lyude cried.

"Out of the way, Lyude! The Emperor demands the disposal of the King!"

"But-! But that's-!!"

"Ayme! Do it!"

The woman shot Ladekahn again, hitting him in the leg.

"Gah-!!"

"THAT-!!" Gibari roared.

"Where does his Royal Highness wish to be shot next? AHAHAH!" Ayme cackled.

"Stop! Stop this!!"

Lyude ran in front of Ladekahn, facing his fellow Imperial troops with his machina weapon aimed at them.

"Lyude! You traitor, you dare defy the Emperor's wishes?! TRAITOR!"

"Say what you will!" he snapped defiantly. "I stand only for justice!"

"Grrr...! Ayme! Finish them both! NOW!"

"As you wish- GARH-!"

The woman's weapon went flying, Kalas standing before her with hatred burning in his eyes as he looked at the woman.

"You-! You're that old man's-!!"

"Are you all right, your majesty?" Xelha asked, at the King's side.

"Here, take this," Sagi took a healing magnus from his pouch.

Ladekahn looked at the blond girl whom had appeared at his side, then strained to look to his other to find the blunette beside him.

"S-sagi-!?" he gasped, eyes going wide.

"I'll explain later, your majesty," Sagi smiled apologetically.

"Sagi! Problem!!" Milly shouted.

"M-milly?!"

The swordsman looked up to find that the soldier known as Ayme had brought a giant machina onto the scene, piloting it from the

inside a Kalas, Lyude, Gibari and Milly stood before it.

"You take care of him, all right, Xelha!?" Sagi cried, rushing in.

"Right!" she nodded.

"Hurry up, Sagi!!" Milly shouted.

"Sagi...? And Milliarde...? How...?..."

Ladekahn lost all the color in his face as he spotted another familiar face before the machina, though the figure wasn't facing him those

wings were one of a kind.

"..." he choked, disbelieving his eyes.

"Hang in there, K-! Your majesty!!" Gibari shouted.

"...Gib..." he whispered, choking on the word.

**Before you ask, no, this is not some gay incest LadekahnGibari story. They are cousins, though they may or not be **

**biologically, they treat each other as such. There will be much oyakoness between Gibari and Ladekahn later, seeing as **

**it annoys me to no end how Gibari's always like: Your majesty' and stuff. I always wanna scream: DAMN YOU, **

**GIBARI! CALL HIM 'Kahn'! CALL HIM KAHN!'**

**Guillo: Is your rant done for the day? **

**Me: Hm...yeah, sure.**

**Guillo: Great. Wench.**

**Me: Meanie.**

**Guillo: Review...OR DIE!  
Me:...Guillo...**

**Guillo:...Fine, review IF YOU WANT...wench.**

**Me: Dingbat.**

**(Both makes faces) **


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow, chapter six already?**

**Guillo: Yes, wench, pay attention.**

**Me: You know, keep that up, and I'll recycle your tin a-**

**Guillo: Whatever. Freakyanimegal owns nothing!**

**Me: HEY! You didn't let me finish threatening you...!!  
**

**Guillo: Hah hah...wench.**

**Me: Go to hell...**

"Your majesty..."

With some difficulty, the king of Diadem managed to open his eyes to find himself laying on his back in the throne room,

various medics and the like dashing around him. The sounds of battle were muted, though the ones of panic were not so

much. The blond grunted and looked to his side to see the speaker-

He paled.

"...Gibari..." he whispered.

The man kneeling by his side smiled softly, a look of relief evident in his features. Said fisherman looked exhausted, cuts and

bruises adorning his limbs.

"I'm...glad to see you're awake, milord..." he stated stiffly.

"...Gib-"

"ARGH! I can't take this!!" a voice shrieked.

Both males jolted and looked to the source of the voice, which happened to be a very p.o'ed and venting Milliarde.

"Why the HELL are you calling him 'majesty' and shit!?" she shouted, pointing at Gibari. "What, did you two stop being

cousins while we've been gone?!"

"COUSINS!?" several voices gasped.

The several voices turned out to be Kalas, Xelha, and the red-haired defector Lyude, whom had joined the posse after

driving off both Ayme and the troops accompanying her. The battle wasn't exactly easy, granted, but they won regardless...

Of course, Sagi and Milly were the best off.

"Mill-!!" Gibari cried.

_**Dude, seriously...family is family...**_

"Well, Gibari..." Sagi trailed, "..uhm...I kinda agree with Milly-"

"You BETTER agree with me!" the cyborg snapped.

"I-! I mean-! YES! I agree with Milly!" the boy cried, shielding himself.

"Good," she huffed.

"..How...are they...?" Ladekahn asked, looking at them.

"It's a long story K-...milord," Gibari said.

"NO! WRONG! WRONG!!" Milly roared, smacking him.

"OW! The hell-!? Dammit, woman! What's your problem-!?"

"Excuse me, your majesty..."

Xelha had taken to Ladekahn's side while the dispute was going on, asking him about what he figured the Empire was after.

Anything about old, forbidden objects, cursed places, the like...

"Why is it important to you?"

"We believe that's why they attacked...your majesty, it's very important that that object does not fall into their hands,"

"...It's the end magnus," Sagi spoke up.

Everyone present turned to look at the boy, who frowned.

"...The Empire's messing with Malpercio's remains again, aren't they?"

"...Sagi..." Milly whispered.

"...You two, how are you here, anyhow?"

"We uh...got lost in the trail of souls," Milly laughed nervously, "we woke up in Cebalrai and ran into Kalas and Xelha here..."

"The trail of souls...Gibari, are they-?"

"Yep, you bet your-...yes, sire," he stated stiffly.

Milly was about to rant again when Ladekahn held up a hand, silencing her. The blond managed to lift his head up enough to

look into Gibari's eyes. Both men sat in silence for a moment before the King smiled weakly.

"Please, that talk doesn't suit you, Gib..."

Gibari went wide-eyed, a shaky smile overcoming his face before he forced a grin to suppress any signs of tears.

"You got it, Kahn!"

Most of the onlookers smiled softly...most.

"Right, right, anyway...WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL US YOU WERE THE KING'S COUSIN?!" Kalas shouted.

"This isn't the time for that!" Xelha snapped "Your highness, do you know anything about the end magnus at all? Where it

could be?"

"...The cloudvent shrine," he stated.

"The cloudvents?! It's in there?!" Milly gasped.

_**I betcha a hundred G it's where Nasca's little toy was.**_

"Yes...I hate to ask this, but my men are still fighting-"

"You want us to go get it?" Kalas asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You get right to the point, don't you? ...Yes, if you could..."

"Thank you, your majesty, we'll leave right away." Xelha nodded.

"Good...Lyude," he stated suddenly.

"H-huh? Yes sir?" the boy yelped.

"...I thank you for what you did, it...couldn't have been easy for you."

There was a silence as the young traitor looked upon the man his homeland was now trying to destroy, unsure of how to

react...

"...It was my duty, sir," he bowed his head. "I apologize for the actions of my people."

"Heh heh..." he laughed weakly, "it's...not your fault..."

"Kahn-!" Gibari started.

"I'll be fine, Gib...I just need to rest..." he whispered, closing his eyes.

The king laid down upon the ground again, his cousin fidgeting at his side a second before the blond let out a faint chuckle.

"Uncle Ram would be yelling at me for being so careless, about now..."

"...Yeah..." Gibari smiled weakly. "The Old man probably would..."

--

Upon leaving the throne room to search for the end magnus, the group found themselves in the cloudvents along with

Lyude. They were a bit shaky about letting him come along, but Xelha's kindness and Milly's...er...well...not so kindness,

eventually secured the red-head's place among them. Though Gibari was not safe the whole way there, as Kalas kept

demanding an explanation why they were not told of his relation to the King. Surprisingly, Gibari's answer of 'I dunno' didn't

satisfy him. Though it's not like Lyude was particularly safe either...

"So..."

"Er...yes, ma'am?"

Milly eagle-eyed him, succeeding in freaking the poor soldier out.

"...Where exactly are you from in Alfard?"

"Uh...Mintaka-"

"Right, what's your mother's name?"

"M-my mother-?"

"And your father. Cough it up. Now."

"W-well-"

"Do you have siblings? Are your real parents divorced or married? Huh?"

"I..."

"Milly, stop freaking the kid out! We're here!" Kalas snapped.

"...Kid?" Lyude pondered. "The youngest one of us here would be Sagi, wouldn't it?"

The group turned to look at said swordsman, unnerving the malidieter.

"...Come to think of it, you're like, what...fifteen?" Gibari asked.

"Sixteen," Sagi corrected.

"Right...so Mill, you're-?"

"Eighteen."

"...I'm eighteen as well," Lyude said.

"I'm seventeen...so..." Xelha trailed.

"HAH!" Kalas laughed. "Sagi's youngest!"

_**Youngest, yeah, and he STILL kicks the most ass.**_

_Oooooohhhhh, burn. That would've been harsh if anyone heard it._

"I did!" Kalas snapped. "Shut the hell up, Marno!"

_**Make me.**_

"M-marno, please..." Sagi moaned.

"Oh joy, another fight where we can't hear half the insults..." Gibari rolled his eyes.

"...Oh, that's right...you two are spiriters," Lyude said, remembering the little fact.

"All of you stop it! We're here!" Xelha cried.

The group found themselves in a large cavern, one that made Gibari visibly flinch. After all...this place didn't hold fond

memories for those who had been here before. However, before they had time to reflect the pendant around Xelha's neck

began to give off a beam of light that hit the ground.

"What the-?" Gibari started.

"WOAH!"

"AH!"

The ground began shaking violently before a winged creature appeared before them, flapping it's appendages int the winds

of the vents.

"You have come at last, woe-laden child, to the depths of Malpercio's realm..."

_**Oh sure, get a realm after I die... Marno mumbled to Sagi.**_

"Stand forth, and defeat me!!"

To make a long story short, they defeated the lord of the winds. It was more difficult than the iron beetle Ayme had used

against them, granted, but they still suffered only minor and curable injuries after the ordeal.

"The gate to Le is opening...behold..."

Another golden shining magnus appeared before them, all eyes fixed onto it...though none moreso than a certain malidieter.

Sagi's eyes were blank, his pupils dilating violently as he gazed upon the magnus.

_**Le...Pieda...**_ Marno whispered,_** It's Pieda...sis...**_

There was a flash as the end magnus, like it's predecessor, appeared in front of Sagi, the swordsman jolting a bit out of his

trance-like state.

"Again...?!" Xelha gasped.

_**Oh crap, this isn't-...Sagi? Sagi are you okay, man?**_

The boy stared numbly at the magnus, his eyelids dropping halfway down as a sudden ringing sound called forth his

emerald-blue wings...

"Sagi-? SAGI!!" Milly cried out.

Sagi let out a yelp, shaking his head violently as he backed away from the End Magnus and dismissed his wings the while he

smacked himself.

"I-! I-! I'm sorry-! I-!" he shook wildly.

_**...Sagi...what...what did it do to you...?**_

In the meanwhile, Lyude had moved to grab the End Magnus to hand it to Kalas, who would be carrying it. However, the

instant the red-head laid fingers on it he found himself in a trance-like state of his own...before flinging it up into the air into

the waiting hands of Ayme, who hovered there via jetshoes.

"Lyude-!!" Kalas cried.

"HAHAHAHAHAH!" the woman cackled. "Thanks ever so much for your help, kiddies! I'll be taking this off your hands!!"

"AYME-!!" Kalas started.

Lyude collapsed.

"Lyude-! Kalas, worry about her later! Lyude's hurt!" Xelha cried.

"R-right!" Sagi blurted. "Let's get him back!"

Xelha glared at him, suspicion evident in her blue eyes.

"..." Sagi flinched.

"...I want to know what you are, understand? Right now, Lyude is priority...but later I want to know what exactly you are..."

"..." Sagi bit his lip, looking away.

It was several hours later when the red-haired soldier's companions were filled in on his condition. Apparently, the Empire

had had some kind of hypnosis placed upon him as well as his fellow soldiers that ordered they hand over the magnus if

they were to find it. Crafty, the lot of them were...but it did get them the End Magnus, now didn't it? At any rate, once the

topic of Lyude was squared away...Xelha rounded on the unfortunate blue-haired malidieter...

"...All right, what are you?" she asked.

"M-me? What do you mean? I'm just a spiriter-" he stammered.

"Yeah, Xelha," Gibari said, "nothing's wrong with Sagi."

"Gibari! Didn't you see what happened? The End Magnus reacted to him, SPECIFICALLY him," she glared, "the sealings of

Malperico's power...I knew they'd have strange effects, but to react to the same person twice...it can't be mere coincidence."

"Well...maybe it is," Kalas shrugged, "I mean, the Magnus appeared in front of me last time, didn't it-?"

"Yes, it appeared before Lyude too, but then it flashed right in front of Sagi," the blond said, "...I'm sorry if I'm sounding too

cynical, but...you can understand why I'd be a little suspicious..."

"..." Milly warily looked between her and Sagi, anxious.

_**...Do you think we should tell them?**_

"This is bull!" Gibari huffed. "Sagi's a hero, a HERO, we can trust him."

"Hero? Geez...I know you said he saved the world and all, him and Milly, but I honestly just can not see that happening..."

Kalas trailed.

"What? Haven't you heard about the Tarazed incident?!"

"Yeah, what about it?" he raised an eyebrow.

"THEY were the ones that stopped it," Gibari said.

"Well...I know, but I still can't believe it..." Kalas rolled his eyes. "Milly's tough, sure...but Sagi? C'mon, he's such a wimp it's

not even funny..."

_**What the-?! Hey! SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!**_

_K-kalas, that was harsh-_

"Who cares, Latara? Look at him, honestly."

Sagi's face fell, but he remained silent.

"...Sorry you feel that way," he muttered.

"Oh great, now you're APOLOGIZING? You're such a pansyass-!"

"Please stop," Sagi said sternly.

"Please? Please?!" Kalas laughed. "Seriously-!"

"Kalas, really, I think that's enough-" Xelha started.

"What? Not my fault the kid is such a wuss- GAH-!"

"Sagi-?!"

"Kalas-!!"

Sagi had reached up and grabbed the older swordsman by the collar, yanking the cape-wearer's face down so he could look

into his eyes. Kalas struggled a moment, shocked at the sudden action when he froze, seeing the expression on the boy's

face. His usual kind features had vanished completely and left him with an icy-cold glare that for a moment, Kalas thought he

was looking at another person. Sagi just did not look like himself like that...it made him look older, even... Then he spoke.

" If you call me a wimp _one _more time..." he growled, "I'll flay you alive..got it?"

"S-sagi-!!" Milly stammered, startled.

The only other time he had seen him like this was when his mother was having her wings ripped off... She shuddered at the

memory. She had tried to reason with him, tried to get him to calm down and the way he looked at her...like she was

nothing more than a slug in his path... Then he had hit her. Her precious, kindly Sagi had smacked her into the ground and

simply walked past her... That was when...that was when the Umbra came loose... Milly gasped. No...no don't panic, it

couldn't be that, Marno was protecting him from that now... Right? Of course he was! ...He'd better be...

"H-hey-! Lemme go you-!" Kalas snapped.

Sagi yanked him closer so that their noses were almost touching.

"I asked you if you understood me...now do you?" he growled.

Kalas gaped at him, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.

_H-hey! Sagi! Please, let go of him!_

"Sagi-!" Milly started.

_**What the hell is wrong with you?! Snap out of it, man!!**_

Then his eyes snapped wide.

"...Oh good g-!!"

Sagi released Kalas and scrambled away from him, cold sweat beading his skin as his breath grew short and choppy via

panic. The boy stared at Kalas a minute, his eyes wide as the older male gaped at him in a mixed expression of fear and

shock.

"...I...I'm so sorry..." Sagi stammered, "I...I just..."

"...I...It's...all right," Kalas said, "...I mean, that just proves I was wrong about you being a wuss...eheh...heh..."

Sagi faced the wall, shaking somewhat as he stared off into space.

"...Sagi, are you all right...?" Milly asked, touching his shoulder.

"Y-yeah...I'm fine, I just...something...I...I'm okay, really..."

"...Are you sure?" Xelha asked. "...It seems like something's wrong with you...maybe I was too quick to jump to

conclusions...are you sure you're fine?"

"Yeah, of course..." he trailed, shaking, "I'm fine, I swear...really."

_**...Sagi...you're lying, it did something to you, didn't it...?**_

"N-no..." he muttered under his breath.

_**You're still lying to me! You're NEVER that quick to anger! Ever! The last time I saw you do that was with Shanath! **_

_**I'm in here too, Sagi! I KNOW something's not right with you! I know the Dark Brethren power when I see it! It's **_

_**that stuff that damned me and my family, Sagi!**_

"I-"

_**...As soon as we get to Anuenue we'll have Correlia look at you, okay? She's the most in tune with magic...just hang **_

_**in there, okay, bud...?**_

"E-excuse me..."

"Lyude! You're up?" Xelha asked.

Lyude had entered the room they had been talking in, looking around awkwardly as a faint blush donned his cheeks. He

hesitated a minute before sighing.

"Um...I would like to apologize...it's my fault the Magnus was lost..."

"H-hey...don't worry about it, it's not like it was your fault..." Milly laughed.

"B-but-!"

"I think you need to listen to her, kid," Gibari smiled, "it's not like you wanted to...the Empire had you under that hypno-

thingy mabob..."

"Poetic," Kalas laughed.

"Hey..."

"...I...know this is a brazen request, but..." Lyude trailed.

"You want to come with us?" Milly grinned.

"W-wha-?" half the room stammered.

"That's what you want to ask, right?" she grinned.

"W-well-"

"You do? Why?" Kalas asked.

"...I no longer have a home to go back to..." he whispered, "and...I want to do the right thing, and I think the only way to do

that is to help you..."

"..." Xelha smiled, "of course you're welcome."

"He is?" Kalas asked.

"Of course!" Gibari laughed. "The more the merrier!"

_I think we should let him, he's a good guy._

"Th-thank you all..." he smiled weakly.

"Excuse me..."

They turned to the door, where a guard stood.

"His Majesty requests your presence, he would like to discuss something with you."

"Oh? We'll be right there, thank you sir," Xelha nodded.

"You're welcome, Miss."

The guard saluted and then walked out.

"Well, let's go, shall we?"

The group slowly dispersed from the room...with the exception of the two time-travelers. Sagi was dazing off into the carpet,

his face furrowed with deep concentration. Milly hesitated a moment, unsure of what to say...

"I'm fine, Milly," he smiled, "just gimme a moment...okay?"

"...Well...if you're sure..."

The brunette slowly left the room, not averting her eyes from her boyfriend until she had closed the door behind her.

"...I'll be okay, right, Marno?" Sagi asked.

_**...What are you saying? Of course you will, bud...**_

"...Right..." he smiled weakly.

The teen turned to the door, passing by a mirror as he did so- Then he stopped. Slowly Sagi turned to look full on at his

reflection, his eyes going wide in horror. Before Marno could ask, he saw. Sagi's reflection...well, it could best be described

as flickered. Like it was quickly switching from the reflection of the teen malidieter to someone else. He looked like Sagi,

but...not. A tall, rather intimidating man in his late-twenties by the looks of it, glaring back at him with steely eyes that

seemed as if they could pierce through his very body. Although he looked like an older Sagi, the cold, arrogant demeanor it

held made it almost impossible to link it to the soft-spoken young man. Sagi began to shake, his breath short and choppy as

he attempted to resettle into his typical breathing pattern.

_**Oh...no...**_

From the tone, Sagi didn't figure he was imagining things.

**Guillo: ? WENCH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?**

**Me:...Me? Do what?**

**Guillo: What is happening to Sagi, WENCH!?**

**Me: X3 What? Why nothing, nothing at all...ehehehehheeh...**

**Guillo: I WILL EAT YOU, WENCH!**

**Me:...You have a mouth? O.o**

**(Awkward silence)**

**Guillo:...Review, while I torture the WENCH!**

**Me: You seriously need a new vocabulary...**


	7. Chapter 7

**LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN! X3**

**Guillo: The wench owns nothing!**

**Me: Yeah yeah yeah...whatever..**

**Guillo:...Bitch.**

**Me: There we go! It's not THAT hard! n.n**

**Guillo: Grrr...**

**"M-milly-!"**

"Huh-? Sagi-? What's-?"

Sagi ran up to his girlfriend and clutched onto her arm.

"Milly! Something's really wrong with me-!"

"Woah woah WOAH kid, calm down! What's up?" Gibari asked.

"You seem very distraught, Sagi..." Lyude said.

"Yeah, what's the deal?" Kalas scoffed.

"I...can I just talk to Milly real quick?"

"Um...Sure," Xelha said.

"All right, c'mon-!"

"Sagi! What is WRONG with you-?!"

Sagi dragged Milly along behind him as he ran back into the room he had just exited. The boy pulled her over to the mirror,

where the 'reflection' showed up again as soon as Sagi passed by it.

"Milly, d-do you see-?"

"See what, Sagi? It's just our reflections..."

"...I...what?" Sagi stammered.

"...Are you feeling okay?" Milly wondered, putting her hand on his forehead.

"I- I...you...you don't see anything wrong with...?"

Milly looked at the mirror again, then back at him, then frowned.

"No..." she said slowly.

Sagi swallowed and looked back at his reflection, which was smirking slyly at Milly's reflection. The swordsman paled as it

moved beside Milly's reflection, put his arm around her waist and rather forcibly drew her nearer.

"Are you sure you're- woah-!" she jolted.

"M-!" Sagi stammered.

"That was weird..." Milly looked around, "I felt like something just grabbed me...huh."

"Uh...n-nevermind! You catch up with the others!"

"Huh-?"

Sagi pushed Milly out the door, removing her reflection from the mirror. He sighed with relief that his reflection had

disappeared as well. What..what was that? What was going on?

_**Well gee, if I didn't know any better I'd say that's you in one of your 'special' dreams.**_

Sagi's eye twitched, his face flushing exuberantly.

"W-what do you mean by-!?"

_**You wish you could make a move on her like that, you're just too timid.**_

"That's disrespectful-!" he blurted, still blushing.

_**Keep telling yourself that, keep telling yourself...**_

"Marno-! But seriously! What's going on?!"

_**...I think we'd better get to Corellia as soon as possible, that's all I've got.**_

Sagi groaned, "why does all this stuff happen to ME?"

_**Not my fault, it's your Dad's for putting me in you.**_

The swordsman slumped.

_**Okay okay-! I won't mention him again-! Sorry-! Oh, come on...**_

"I know I know..." Sagi muttered.

_**...I didn't mean it, okay? I'm sorry...**_

"...Marno...what's happening to me...?"

_**...Come on, let's hurry up with the others.**_

"R-right..."

_**...And don't worry, if it's anything to do with the umbra I'll take care of it. I promised.**_

"...Right, thanks, Marno..." he smiled softly.

_**Ah...don't mention it.**_

So Sagi went back out with his friends and within a few minutes and lies about why he was 'freaking out' later, they found

themselves aboard the Mindeer. How convenient that Ladekahn wanted them to ask Corellia...

"This is wonderful!" Xelha said. "You two wanted to go to Anuenue anyway, right? Now we can go together!"

"Whoopee," Kalas rolled his eyes.

"Well, NYAH!" Milly stuck her tounge out at him.

"Would you two knock it off?" Gibari groaned.

"Settle down, please..." Xelha said, "we're going to be riding for a while, so..."

"Xelha's right!" Milly said. "So..."

She dashed over and sat RIGHT next to Sagi...RIGHT next to him.

"Uh..."

"We're going to be a while," she smirked, "so we can cuddle a bit!"

Sagi shot bright red as did most everyone else as Milly hugged his arm and cuddled up to him.

"M-milly.." he stammered.

"Oh what?" she scoffed. "I'm not allowed to hug my boyfriend?"

"U-uh..." he twitched.

"Geez, got her all over you, Sagi..." Kalas smirked, "lucky bastard."

"I say..." Lyude flushed.

"Get a room, you two!" Gibari said.

"I think it's sweet," Xelha said.

"You think everything's sweet, Xelha!" Kalas said.

"Oh...shush."

Meemai squeaked.

"M-milly..." Sagi whispered again, flushing more.

_**You know, she's all over you...you could probably get her to put out if you tried-**_

_EW! You men are all the same!_

_**I was TALKING to Sagi, you stay out of this!**_

_How rude!_

_**You're the one eavesdropping!**_

Sagi sighed as Kalas suppressed a snicker, the two of them taking opposite reactions.

"What? Did we miss something?" Xelha asked.

"With these two? We're always missing something," Milly rolled her eyes.

"Sorry..." Sagi frowned.

"Hey, it's not like it's your fault..." Gibari smiled.

"He has a point," Lyude nodded.

"Heh..." Sagi smiled sheepishly.

"...So...anyone for blackjack?" Kalas asked.

Several hours and several losses on Gibari's part later, they arrived in Anuenue. The floral city was bright and their

fragrance was a lot on the air, green vines hanging lazily off every surface.

"Wow...it's beautiful...!" Xelha whispered.

"I must say I agree," Lyude smiled.

"Yeah yeah, flowers, big deal," Kalas shrugged.

The other glared at him.

"...What?"

"U-um...we need to head to Komo Mai, yeah?" Sagi laughed nervously.

"Right, we must deliver King Ladekahn's letter," Xelha said.

"Y'know, I think the last time I saw Queen Correlia was..." Gibari looked at Sagi and Milly, "Geez, that was the last time I

saw you, too..."

"Wow..." Milly frowned.

"Hm...well, didn't we- er, don't we come visit?" Sagi asked.

Gibari shrugged.

"...Well that's helpful," Milly huffed.

"Th-that's not polite, Milly..." Sagi stammered.

"Yeah yeah, whatever, we going or not?" Kalas asked, walking off.

"...You know what, he's a douche," Milly growled.

"Well...he's not very friendly but-" Sagi started.

"Why are you defending him!? Geez, Sagi! Grow a pair!"

"M-mill-" Sagi blushed, stammering.

"Let's just go!" Xelha sighed.

"Right behind ya," Gibari said.

"I as well," Lyude nodded.

So they eventually found themselves in the city of flowers...which was over-brimming with brightly colored tents, stands,

balloons and celebrating townspeople. The group stood in awe before Milly grinned.

"Oh! This is-! This is the festival for the Celestial Tree!" she grinned. "Oh yes! I always wanted to see it!"

"The what?" Kalas asked.

"The Celestial Tree that's planted here flowers only once every thirty years," Milly said, going into her usual 'I am the

teacher, listen to me as I explain things to you n00bs' state, "Because of this, it's such a grand event!"

"Really now?" Lyude said, smiling. "That's quite an occasion!"

"So it's a party, eh?" Gibari grinned. "Heh heh...maybe we can check it out-"

"Gibari..." Xelha sighed.

"Uh...after we give her highness the letter, of course..." he laughed.

"Right," Sagi smiled, "let's- oh-!"

The swordsman turned and bashed into a woman that had been walking past.

"I'm so sorry ma'am!" he stammered. "I-! ..."

Then his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he saw the raven-haired woman glaring at him.

_**Wait...that looks REALLY familiar... **_

"U-um...Ma'am? Really, I'm sorry about-"

"What's your name?" she demanded.

"M-my name...?"

Sagi was panicking now. Who was this lady, and why was she looking at him like she wanted to gut him alive? She

certainly looked like trouble with her black leather outfit and green gauntlets...she looked...

"His name is Sagi, what's it to you?" Milly huffed.

"...Sagi..." she trailed, "then you're Milliarde."

Everyone jolted.

"H-huh? How did-?" Milly started.

"...I apologize for that, allow me to introduce myself first to make up for my rudeness..." she stated coolly, "...I'm Savyna."

"Savyna...? Where have I heard that-?" Milly started.

"SAVYNA!?" Sagi shouted.

Savyna's eyes locked onto his face.

"So you do know me...but..."

"Hey, wait a minute, who's she and how do you guys know her-?" Kalas asked.

"Excuse me, I'll be going now,"

The woman walked past them-

"W-wait! You're Shanath's-!?" Milly cried.

"Shanath?!" Gibari cried. "What about that bastard?!"

After all, he didn't like to hear the name of the man who killed his father.

"This isn't the proper place, I'll meet with you all later," Savyna said in her same collected tone, walking away.

"H-hey! Wait-!" Milly cried.

"H-hold on!" Sagi held her back. "Even if she is...she's right, this isn't the place."

"Right," Savyna nodded, glaring at them one last time before turning her back and walking from them for real this time,

leaving a cold wake behind her.

_**...Oh shit, it's the little girl who was traumatized when we killed her father...yay.**_

"Oh no...what are we going to do...?" Sagi whispered.

"S-she...she can't really be...?" Milly said in a hushed voice to him.

"W-well..."

_**Then again, we also saved her life in the Dark Serviceman Headquarters after that...**_

"...Oh man..." Sagi groaned.

"Um...you two going to clue us in, or should we just ignore you?" Kalas asked.

"Why don't we head for Correlia?" Milly smiled.

"...I'll take that as we should ignore you,"

"If they don't want to talk about it, we shouldn't make them," Xelha said, "we really need to hurry."

"Gah...I guess you're right," Gibari huffed, "...but why did you mention 'Shanath'?"

"...We'll probably see her again," Sagi muttered, "...I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, well, whatever, as long as we don't get dragged into it," Kalas shrugged.

"Hmph!" Milly huffed.

With that they made their way to the palace, only to find the entrance blocked by performing celebrating citizens. Kalas, of

course, wanted to just shove their way through but Xelha...

"They're having fun...maybe we should just wait," the blond suggested.

"Oh fine then, what do you suggest we do then?" he glared.

"Well...we can look around the School of Magic," she suggested, "I always wanted to go there."

"It's not that great, really," Milly shrugged, "then again...it might've changed a bit..."

"Oh...but I really wanted to see it..." Xelha muttered.

"...I-I'm sure we can stand looking at it again, right?" Sagi asked Milly.

"Oh, fine, whatever,"

"Man, this sucks..." Kalas muttered.

"Really? I find it very intriguing myself," Lyude smiled.

Milly's eyes narrowed. That guy HAD to be Almarde's kid, he just had to...

"Well, let's sightsee," Gibari grinned.

So they looked around the school, nothing much had changed, really, except for the teacher staff. Milly was sincerely glad a

lot of her old teachers were gone, sparing her from some more weird...reunions. Of course, it was only a matter of time

before they found a Professor lecturing about, of course, the 'Cursed God Malpercio'. The others listened in mild interest as

Sagi bit his lip, Milly glaring as Marno muttered refutes to the teacher's comments such as: 'What about wiseman?! Does

ANYBODY remember him!?' or 'The children of the Earth were dorks, though...' and of course, 'We were NOT a 'he'!!

"Finally we're out of there!" Milly said as she walked out.

"Yeah...seems like it took a while..." Sagi muttered.

"Well, they're gone, let's go in," Gibari smiled.

"Yes, we need to speak to her Majesty," Xelha nodded.

They walked up to the doorway, and surprisingly to Sagi and Milly, they were not stopped to be asked of their business...

Correlia just let people in now? Had she...gone 'dull' a bit? Regardless, the group walked into the Throne Room with Sagi

and Milly in the rear...

"Hello," Correlia smiled, "how may I aid you?"

Milly went bug-eyed.

"HOLY CRAP YOU HAVEN'T AGED AT ALL-!!"

Sagi covered Milly's mouth as all attention shot to the pair.

"...Milliarde? Sagi?" the Fairy Guide stared.

"Y-yeah...story about that, your Majesty," Gibari bowed politely.

"Gibari? Is that you? Well..this is certainly...unexpected..." she trailed.

"H-hello your Majesty," Sagi stammered nervously, "um...I..know this looks really weird, but-"

"WE look weird?!" Milly snapped, escaping. "She hasn't aged a day!"

"Well neither have you," Correlia pointed out.

"There was time-travel involved with us!"

"Time-travel?" she tilted her head to the side.

"W...we'd like to talk to you about the situation later, your highness," Sagi stammered, "but these people have come with

more urgent business, it's a letter from King Ladekahn."

"From Ladekahn?'

"Yes, your grace," Xelha bowed, "here it is."

The blond presented the letter and the Queen took it, reading it before them.

"...The End Magnus?"

"Yes, your Majesty," Xelha bowed, "the Empire is attempting to awaken them."

"...I see," she stated, "however, I can not give my support.

"Again?" Milly huffed. "You're still with this neutrality crap since last time?!"

"Hey you!" a guard shouted. "You will not address her highness in such a manner!"

"No, it's fine," Correlia stated, "I apologize, Milliarde, but I have no reason to believe the Empire is attempting such a

foolish feat."

"But-"

"Besides...there's another matter- Oh, Emperor, are you enjoying your stay?"

The group turned to the entrance where a fat, ugly, rather...uniquely dressed individual was being accompanied by a

strange man that rather resembled a large bird of some kind.

"Emperor Geldoblame-!!" Lyude gasped.

"Wh-what?! What's he doing here-!?" Gibari cried.

"GELDOBLAME!?" Sagi and Milly shouted in unison.

"Emperor Geldoblame is my personal guest, he has been visiting our island for several days now," Correlia explained, much

to their shock and disgust.

"Did I come at a bad time?" the fat one asked. "Are you in the middle of something, your Grace?"

"Well..."

"You're GELDOBLAME?!" Milly shouted, pointing at him.

"What? You dare speak to me in such a- Milliarde?!"

"Geldoblame is the Emperor...?" Sagi whispered.

There was a sudden silence.

"Holy CRAP did you get FAT!" Milly shouted.

Kalas burst out laughing while the rest of the group became very tense.

"F-fat? Listen you wench, you have no right to speak to me in such a-"

"Listen, I have no idea how YOU became Emperor," Milly huffed, "but my Father would be Emperor of Alfard now if it wasn't

for your ugly psychotic freak of a boss!"

Sagi flinched.

"What-!?" everyone stared at Milly.

"Milliarde's father was the previous Emperor," Correlia explained to the newbies.

"Bah!" Geldoblame snapped. "No matter how much you look like Milliarde, it is impossible. You would do best to hold your

tounge before I land you in a world of trouble!"

"Heh heh, yeah!" the man beside him cackled.

Kalas went wide-eyed.

"You...!"

"Huh? Well, if it isn't the old man's brat!" he cackled.

Gibari held Kalas back as he attempted to move forward.

"All of you stop!" Correlia snapped. "I will not allow such rudeness to my guest! Be still!"

"But-!"

"Kalas, we need to do what she says," Xelha said.

"...Grrr..." Kalas stopped, glaring at the blue-man.

"I apologize for their actions, Emperor Geldoblame," Correlia stated.

"Bah...whatever, but this one-" he spotted Sagi, "...these two, who are they and why are they impersonating Sagi and

Milliarde, do you know?"

"We're not-!" Milly started.

"I plan to find out if they are who they say they are, no please pay them no mind, however, I must ask..." she closed her

eyes, "Emperor Geldoblame, do you know something about a so-called 'End Magnus'?"

"Hm...don't believe I have ever heard of that, your grace,"

"You liar-!" Kalas and Milly started, but were silenced.

"I see, what is it you wished to tell me at any rate?"

"We were going to say farewell, I must be returning to Alfard,"

"Oh? I see, have a safe trip,"

"Thank you, your grace..."

With that Geldoblame shot them all one last glare, lingering on the time-travelers and Kalas in particular before turning and

exiting the room with his body guard beside him.

"...As you can see, I have no interest with going to war with the Empire,"

"But-!"

"I will hear no more, tell Ladekahn I will not assist him," Correlia stated.

"..Yes, your grace..." Xelha nodded in defeat.

"Now leave,"

Bristling, the group made their way to the door.

"Wait,"

They stopped.

"You...are you a spiriter?" she asked Kalas.

"Yeah, why?"

"...No reason, you may leave..." she said, "...Sagi, Milliarde, I should like to talk to you."

"...Of course," Sagi nodded.

"Is it okay if we wait for you outside?" Xelha asked.

"We'll be fine," Sagi smiled.

"...All right...we'll take our leave,"

A minute later Correlia was leering at Sagi and Milly.

"..Guards, leave,"

"W-what? But your Majesty-"

"I said leave,"

"...As you wish,"

The guards piled out.

"...Um-"

"You came here through the Trail of Souls, correct?"

The both flinched.

"W-what? How did you-?"

"I feigned surprise, I had a vision you would be coming," she stated, "that and Ladekahn did vouch for your identity in his

letter to me."

"...Your highness-"

"You must be returned to your own time as soon as possible," she said.

"That's why we came here, your majesty," Sagi nodded, "we though only you would be able to-"

"I know of no way, unfortunately," she shook her head, "if anyone knows of a way...it would be the Children of the Earth.

However, the taint-clouds have become too potent to pass through any longer."

"They have?" Milly groaned. "So...?"

"What do you suggest we do, your Majesty?"

"...Try to look for an answer in the Library of Magic," Correlia stated, "I shall meditate on this, however, I currently do not

know of a way."

"...Your majesty, there is something else," Sagi stated.

"Yes?"

"...You know that a piece of Malpercio dwells within me,"

There was a silence as Milly bit her lip, the Fairy Guide Queen frowning a bit as she nodded.

"...The End Magnus are connected to Malpercio," Sagi stated, "you know the Empire has messed with them before, I'm a

result of that. Last time they did something with them...well, we all saw the results. Please, your majesty, you must believe

us when we say they can't be trusted."

"...I'm sorry," she shook her head.

"...I see," Sagi whispered, "...that and...one final thing.."

"Yes?"

"...The End Magnus have..." he trailed.

Part of him wanted to ask Milly to leave, he didn't want her to hear about what had been happening to him...but...he had

to tell her eventually anyway, and Correlia needed to know...

"...We've come across two End Magnus, your majesty," Sagi stated, "..each time they've...reacted to me... Queen Correlia,

each time one of them was unearthed I felt it. I've...been feeling their energy as they've awakened, your majesty. I'm

afraid of what will happened if this continues any longer, your grace."

"...What?" Milly looked at him. "...They've reacted to you but-"

"They've done more than that..." Sagi's face fell.

_**...Sagi...**_

"They've been affecting me, your majesty," Sagi stated, "after the first one my wings of the heart no longer drained

me...after the second one, only recently...my reflection is...not mine."

"...Sagi?" Milly trailed, anxiety in her voice.

"...So you are affected be the End Magnus..." Correlia stated.

Sagi nodded slowly, his face downcast.

"...I'm afraid of where this is going," Sagi said again, "I've been...changing..."

"...Your concern is that..." Correlia's face furrowed.

"...Your majesty I..."

_**Oh man Sagi...this...this is...**_

Sagi looked Correlia in the eye.

"I'm afraid I may be becoming a puppet for the Dark Brethren,"

**Hm...Hey, I think I liked how that turned out. n.n**

**Guillo: WENCH!**

**Me: I actually wrote most of that in one sitting...wow...and now I want to play Baten Kaitos! O.o Double wow! Heh, **

**that was fun...I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.**

**Guillo: WRENCH-! I mean...WENCH!**

**Me:...W-wrench...? XD! I KNEW IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME!**

**Guillo: I'll hang you with your own intestines...Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello peeps! n.n**

**Colette: Hi!**

**Guillo: I hate you-...wait, who is this blond wench?**

**Colette: Hi! I'm Colette Brunel! I'm the heroine from Tales of Symphonia!**

**Guillo:...Never heard of it.**

**Me: It's the game advertised on the back of the 'Baten Katios: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean' packet in the case. I **

**only got Tales of Symphonia because it was on the back of BK...**

**Guillo: CURSES ON KALAS AND HIS FRIENDS! BECAUSE OF THAT THIS BLOND HAS COME TO TORTURE ME WITH **

**HER NICENESS!**

**Colette: Oh look, butterflies! n.n**

**Guilo: IT BUUUUUUUUUUURRRNSSS!!**

**Me: Thank you Colette, you can go back to being my muse for 'Growth Spurt'.**

**Colette: Okay! n.n (Goes away)**

**Me: I own nothing. n.n**

**Guillo: MAINTENANCE! I NEED MAINTENANCE! **

"...I see..." Correlia closed her eyes.

"W-wait, Sagi..." Milly stammered, "what are you talking about?"

"The End Magnus are doing something to me," Sagi said again, his face downcast, "the only reason they'd be doing that

even if Marno was trying to resist it would be the Dark Brethren..."

"...I see, then what do you intend to do?" Correlia asked.

"...We need to get back as soon as possible, but..." Sagi bit his lip.

"...But?"

"...We can't let the End Magnus continue to be unleashed," Sagi spoke up, "regardless of what's happening to me, if

they're released either way...it won't be good. Even if we go back this will probably still happen, and it'll start happening to

me again..."

"...Sagi-" Milly started.

"I want to make sure the Empire is stopped before this gets out of hand," Sagi stated with determination, "if we don't do

something about that then no matter what we do it'll be our problem, one way or the other."

"...I wish you luck," Correlia stated, "however-"

"I know you don't want to get involved," Sagi closed his eyes, "...I've plead my case."

With that he bowed politely and turned from her, walking off as Milly called after him, trying to get him to talk to her. Of

course, she was unnerved at what her boyfriend was saying, both concerned for his welfare and his sanity... Sagi was

talking that way again, like he did with Kalas earlier, like he did when he had slammed her into the floor and...and...

"Sagi, wait-"

"Milly," Sagi looked at her, "...I'm sorry."

"...Sagi, what's-? ...Is it really the End Magnus? Are they really doing this to you?"

"...Yeah," he muttered, "...look, don't tell the others. We've got to stop the Empire from getting their hands on the End

Magnus anyway, so it's best that we make sure none of the others are released...or at least, that they don't fall into

Geldoblame's hands..."

"...I still can't believe that fat-fag is the Emperor," Milly stated.

Sagi chuckled a bit.

"Y-yeah...it's a bit..awkward, huh?"

"...Yeah..." she frowned, "Sagi-"

"There you two are!" Xelha said. "We were getting worried!"

"You were taking too long, more like!" Kalas scoffed.

The couple noticed they had been walking down the stairs as they had been talking, the rest of the group having been

waiting for them at the bottom. Kalas looked impatient, as usual, and the rest of them merely looked concerned.

"What happened?" Gibari asked.

"Oh...nothing much," Sagi lied with a smile, "so-"

"We're going to the library of magic," Kalas said.

"What?" Sagi jolted.

"Someone passing by mentioned that a powerful witch was there," Gibari said, "Xelha thought that was interesting, she

says maybe she might know where the End Magnus is."

Xelha nodded.

"Yes, at least, that's what I think,"

_**Wow, talk about coincidence...**_

_Hm?_

_**Oh nothing.**_

"Great, than let's head off-"

"Wait, so what did her Majesty say? Did she believe you?" Gibari asked.

Sagi nodded.

"Correlia knows it's really us, but she still wants to stay neutral..."

"Stupid, isn't it?" Milly huffed. "The last time she did that she ended up helping us anyway!"

"But Milly, she's just trying to look out for her people..." Sagi said.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Kalas shrugged, "let's just get going, okay?"

"That's odd for YOU to say," Milly raised an eyebrow, "usually you're all 'aw man, I don't wanna'."

"Yeah well, I figure I'm going to be stuck with all of you until this is all over anyway," he huffed, "I'm just going along with

this until I get my hands on Giacamo! Got it?"

"Suuuuureee..." Gibari smirked.

Lyude smiled.

"I really just think it's because Kalas does care, deep down," he said.

"W-what was that?! You're kidding me, aren't you, Lyude?!" Kalas snapped.

Everyone laughed.

"Hey! Don't laugh at me!"

"Anyway, the Library of Magic isn't far from here," Milly smiled, "let's go!"

And so withing a few minutes they came across the library. A dirty, webbed, crumbling, decaying and musty establishment

that was being roamed by many specters of various kinds, trailing around looking for victims to add to their ranks. Sagi

shuddered as Milly gaped.

"W-what happened?! It wasn't anything like this last time!!"

"W-well...it has been twenty years, Milly," Sagi pointed out, "but still..."

"Ugh, this place reeks!" Kalas cried. "Let's find the witch and get the hell out of here!"

"Something's not right..." Xelha whispered.

"Well, standing around isn't going to get anything done," Gibari said, "let's get looking."

After several minutes of the tedious task of finding stray books (and attempting not to get eaten by some) they managed

to compile all the missing books to their original spots in order to open the door. Of course, they (mostly Kalas) complained

that being a librarian was not something they ever wanted to do, but nonetheless they managed to get through with little

difficulty. Though Lyude did almost suffocate when a rather cheery looking novel attempted to strangle him with a

bookmark, Milly had all but sprung to his aid and the book ended up in so many shards it was almost confetti. Afterward

she muttered something along the lines of: 'No one hurts him, bitches', which would've caused a bit of a confusion had she

said it loud enough to be heard. As far as Milly was concerned, she was Lyude's 'Auntie', if he really was Almarde's son.

"Well, here we are..."

The group walked in to the final room.

"...There's no one here..." Sagi frowned.

"Well duh, I can't believe you fell for this!"

Everyone spun on heel as Falon entered, grinning like a manic court jester.

"You-! What are you doing here?!" Kalas snapped, drawing his weapons.

"His highness wants you out of the way, you see, so I was sent to say...dispose of you."

With that he took a fighting stance, still laughing.

"You feel for such an obvious trap, it's laughable!"

"You really think you can take on all of us?" Milly scoffed. "THAT is laughable!"

"Oh really? Then why don't you try it? Ladies first," Fallon smiled, gesturing for her to advance.

"Why you...I'll show you 'lady'!!"

Milly lunged at him, attacking him furiously with her cudgels in a mad, chaotic dance, only to find Falon cackled and blocked

each and every part of her onslaught before blasting her back...

"Woah-! Wh- what the hell was that?!" she cried.

_**Sagi, be careful, something isn't right here.**_

"I'm getting bored, come on! Entertain me!" Falon cackled.

With that the six of them attacked, only to find Falon not to be as weak as he appeared. In fact, he was holding his own

against all of them. Not even holding his own, winning! Even Milly and Sagi found themselves actually having to

concentrate. He was definitely not one of the harder foes that had encountered, but he wasn't the run-of-the-mill type

either. There were several clean hits in which Xelha, Kalas and Gibari went down.

"Guys-!" Sagi cried.

Lyude attempted to shoot Fallon in the face only for him to dodge with liquid-like movements and uppercut the young red-

head under the chin, knocking him into the desk in the room.

"YOU BASTARD!" Milly shouted. "Now you're going to get it!"

_**Uh-oh, he hurt Milly's 'nephew'...**_

"Hehehh...YEAH RIGHT!"

Suddenly there was a burst of red light.

Milly went flying.

"M-milly-!?" Sagi cried.

She flipped in mid-air and managed to land on her feet, glaring as she wiped her lip.

"That...what the hell was that?!"

"W...what ARE you?" Xelha cried from the floor, shocked.

Falon continued to laugh as the light dimmed.

"You people are all so OLD-FASHIONED! You see, I have had the pleasure of being infused with energy from one of the End

Magnus' themselves!" he cackled.

Sagi went wide-eyed.

"You're a malidieter?!" he cried.

"A what?" Kalas demanded.

"A-? AHAHAHAH!" Falon laughed. "Oh no, nothing like that, I'm much improved over that silly project. There is no afterling

harboring in MY heart, I was touched by the light of Malperico, the pure POWER! Not whatever those worms went through!"

Sagi clutched his sword tighter.

"You...used the End Magnus?" Xelha repeated, horrified.

"Yep, and soon, all of the world will fall to the Empire, and all its people shall be blessed with the breath of the ancient

god!" he ranted, rasing his arms above his head.

"But then you'd no longer be human!" Xelha protested.

Sagi stopped, his eyes widening as her words echoed in his head.

No longer be...human...?

If someone was exposed to Malpercio, they were no longer human...?

**_Sagi! Don't you even get to thinking like that!_**

"See, I'm doing you a favor killing you," Falon smirked, "you won't have to live to see a future you can't handle!"

Not human...

"Now, allow me to finish you off!!"

Falon lunged at Sagi, he stared blankly ahead of him as if not even seeing his attacker. Milly let out a cry and attempted to

block the attack for the sake of her boyfriend when all of a sudden Falon stopped in his tracks as a virtual hurricane of

sharp feathers tore around the room.

"W-what the-?!" Falon cried.

Soon they were blinding by the feathers before everything went black...then they found themselves sitting in a field by the

trail to Komo Mai, all of them in a daze.

"W...what happened?" Kalas demanded.

"That was foolhardy," a voice scoffed.

Leaning against a tree was Savyna, her eyes closed and her arms crossed.

"You...it's you again!" Gibari said.

"You should've guessed it might have been a trap," she continued coolly, "...Sagi, Milliarde, I'd have figured you two at

least would have enough sense to suspect it."

"Savyna...?" Milly whispered, putting away her wings and weapons. "You...saved us? Why?"

"I owed you, that's all," she said, turning her head from them, "...what happened to the other one?"

"The other one?"

"...The one with the red hood, the machina," Savyna locked eyes with her, "...the one that saved me."

"...Guillo," Milly said, "...Guillo's-"

"Guillo isn't here," Sagi said simply, still somewhat in a daze.

"...I see," she said simply.

"Wait! They said you had something to do with Shanath!" Gibari snapped at her.

"...What about it?" she asked coldly, looking at the fisherman.

"That bastard kill my father!"

"...Ah," Savyna said simply.

"Ah? That's all you can say? 'Ah'?!" Gibari roared. "How'd you know him?!"

"...I didn't really," Savyna closed her eyes again, "he was my father, nothing else to it."

Everything seemed to stop. Milly braced herself for the coming events whilst the rest of the group, though ignorant of the

complete situation, still got enough to realize something bad was going to happen. Xelha covered her mouth and Lyude

paled, Kalas raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"H-he was your-!? Your-!? He had a-!?"

"We are all human beings, human beings tend to reproduce," she said snidely.

"...You...he..I..." Gibari trailed.

"L-let's just calm down and not do anything rash," Xelha said, "she just saved us, we should be grateful to her. Gibari...w-

well...can't we just let it rest for now?"

Gibari glared at Savyna, who glared coldly back at him with not a trace of fear in her eyes.

"...If it makes you feel better, they killed my father," Savyna said, glancing at Sagi and Milly, "so we're even in the area

we've both witnessed our father's death."

"You did what?!" Xelha yelped.

"...I..." Sagi whispered.

"W-we had to! He was- we- after-" Milly stammered.

"Good thing, too! That bastard deserved anything he got!" Gibari snarled.

Savyna all but jerked her whole body to face him, snarling.

"You didn't know him, you have no right to judge him," she growled.

"I don't need to, he killed my pop! He killed him right in front of me-!"

"He was doing what he believed was just!"

"He was killing innocent people for POWER!"

"Don't you DARE talk like you know him or I swear I'll-!"

"Don't YOU dare talk like he was some kind of hero-!"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!"

Kalas came in between them, glaring back and forth.

"Let it go, arguing about it isn't going to do anything! Gibari, it's not like SHE killed him, right? And Savyna, you can't really

blame him for being mad! So just- just- chill!"

"If Savyna could bother saving us, she can't possibly be a bad person," Xelha said, "she even saved the people that killed

her own father, Gibari, so it just isn't right to..."

The blond trailed off, watching anxiously as Savyna and Gibari looked at them, glared at each other, then looked at the rest

of them before settling for glaring at each other once more.

"...All right," Gibari said after a minute, "...but...but how do we know she isn't with the Empire?!"

"Because if I was I wouldn't have told you my father was Shanath," she said simply, "what kind of spy would give away

such information right away?"

"...Okay, she's got me there,"

"Savyna...from the Empire..." Lyude frowned, "...wait! You're..."

"I have to leave,"

"Wh-what?"

Savyna headed off with her back to them.

"If you want to talk more come to Opu, I'll meet with you there, if you're seriously interested in going up against the

Empire," she said, looking at them over her shoulder.

"W-wait! Savyna-" Sagi started.

She was already gone.

"...What do you say for this?" Sagi frowned.

_**Yeah, 'sorry I killed your daddy' kinda doesn't cut it.**_

_You all have very complicated lives..._

_**You don't know the half of it, sister.**_

"...By the way, Sagi..." Kalas trailed, "...what's a 'malidieter'?"

"...Uh-"

"Nothing important!" Milly said instantly. "S-so, are we going to follow Savyna or what?"

"She might know something about the End Magnus," Xelha said

"Well...it's not like we have any other leads," Kalas said.

"Yeah...let's go," Sagi nodded.

...Not human...

**I'm sorry if it's shorter than usual, and I'm sorry it took a while, as usual. I have about ten stories going right **

**now...though I was really happy with this one. I typed most of it in one sitting. n.n Usually it takes me at least fifteen **

**tries to finish a chapter, I get such writer's block.**

**Guillo: SILENCE YOU INFERIOR BEING!**

**Me:...Say what?**

**Guillo: I was playing this 'Tales of Symphonia', I enjoy the term.**

**Me:...You would.**

**Guillo: That Kratos man reminds me of Savyna.**

**Me: Aren't they awesome? :D**

**Guillo:...Review, VERMIN!**

**Me: And that's Magnius. Lol. n.n**

**Guillo: WENCH!**

**Me: And...back we go again. --'**


	9. Chapter 9

**It's been almost a year since I updated this...O.O**

**Guillo: I enjoyed the break-**

**Me: I'm so sorry!!! T.T I promise it'll never take me this long to update again!! **

**Guillo: Feh, Freakyanimegal owns noting. **

**Me: I'm so sorry!!!  
**

"ARGH!!!"

Everyone stopped to watch as Milly threw a tantrum, stomping on the ground harshly before proceeding to smash a nearby tree with her fists.

She was rather frustrated after they had entered the jungle, seeing as she never liked humidity. That much moisture was hell on her machina

parts, and not to mention a hassle for her hair... That and ever since their last trip here, she had absolutely dreaded anything to do with

jungles and large birds...

"Is she done yet?" Kalas asked, crossing his arms as he rolled his eyes.

"M- Milly just needs a moment every now and then," Sagi smiled nervously, scratching the bridge of his nose.

"Kalas, we should be understanding," Xelha said, "it might be her...special, time."

"Eh?" Gibari blinked, seemingly lost.

"I- I'm sure she's quite all right," Lyude stammered, forcing a smile, "however, once she's done we really should be heading into Opu."

"I HATE THIS JUNGLE!!!" Milly shouted, pulling at her hair.

"M- Milly-" Sagi started.

"WHAT?!" she rounded on him, snarling.

_**Pmsing much or what?**_

_Yeah, I think she's a little high-strung today..._

"W- We need to get going," Sagi said, putting his hands up in front of him.

"Wha-? Oh! Oh, right," she giggled somewhat creepily, smiling, "sorry, sorry, let's get going!"

Kalas' eyes narrowed on the brunette's face.

_Kalas? What's the matter? _

"Nothing," Kalas said, "I'm just glad she's done being a ditz-"

The blue-haired swordsman hit the floor with significant force as as cudgel flew through the air and slammed him in the gut (the blunt top).

Xelha gasped as Gibari and Lyude bravely cleared out so Milly could stomp up to Kalas, grab her cudgel, then proceed to bap him over the head

with it again.

"Don't EVER call me a ditz, got it?!"

"All right, all right-! I take it back!!"

The group sighed audibly.

"Well..." Sagi shook his head, "let's get going."

"Right behind you," Gibari grinned.

"Yes, we should hurry," Xelha agreed with a determined nod.

"The jungle gets thinner through here- at least, it was the last time," Sagi explained as he bit his lip, "once we get out it's a straight shot to

Opu if we head south-south-west."

"So we'll just follow you then?" Kalas said somewhat irritably.

"Uh...yes, I guess," Sagi shrugged.

"Of course O fearless leader," Kalas spat.

"Oh geez, Kalas, are you on that again?" Gibari sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't like taking orders from a freaking teenager!!" Kalas protested hotly.

"I'm a teenager," Xelha pointed out somewhat meekly.

"As am I," Lyude nodded

"But he's the youngest one here!!"

_**Listen you prick. If you keep this up you might tick Sagi off again and you remember what happened last time.**_

_Stop threatening Kalas! He's just- well, okay, he's being a prick, but still!_

"Agh, whatever!" Kalas rolled his eyes, heading off down the path. "Let's just get the hell out of here!"

The remnants of the group looked after him disapprovingly before following as well. Sagi looked behind him at the disgruntled Kalas a few

minutes later after he had taken the lead, sighing to himself. Kalas really didn't seem to like him, though Gibari, Kalas and Lyude all seemed to

have a lot of faith in him. Kalas was a spiriter, though, and a real one at that. That made him wonder...

_**What's the matter, Sagi?**_

"Nothing much," he whispered, "I was just wondering about Kalas..."

_**What about him?**_

"If he's really a spiriter...I mean, it's not like with V- him, with his fake one," he said, "and then of course Baelheit with Daemon.. I was just

wondering if Kalas has something special about him."

_**Eh?**_

"Baelheit got Daemon when he was dying, right? Did that mean that Kalas was dying too? I don't know, it's just-"

"Hey, kid, what are you mumbling about?"

Sagi turned to his side and looked up to see Kalas had fallen into step with him, the taller male looking down at him with narrowed eyes and a

suspicious expression on his face. Sagi smiled.

"Oh, nothing, just talking to Marno," he said.

"Oh," Kalas said simply, fidgeting a bit, "...so you know what it's like, then?"

"Know what what's like?"

"...Talking to yourself," he smirked sadly, his eyes glinting a bit.

"...You've been with Latara for a long time, right?" Sagi asked.

"For about two years now," Kalas said with a slight smirk.

"Oh..."

Kalas raised an eyebrow as Sagi's face fell. Kalas had only been a spiriter for a few years? He, on the other hand, had been a malidieter since

he was born. He'd been living with a voice in his head, with Marno of Malperico sitting in his heart talking to him for as long as he could

remember. It wasn't quite the same for Kalas then, was it? Kalas hadn't had to grow up with it.

_**Sagi...**_

"By the way, kid-"

_**It's Sagi, damn it!!**_

"Fine, Sagi," Kalas rolled his eyes, "hey um...you're from twenty years ago, right?"

"Yes," Sagi said simply.

"...Milly's eighteen?"

"Yeeeessss?" Sagi said slowly, looking hesitant.

Kalas seemed to be thinking something over before he asked something completely out of nowhere:

"Are you going to get married?

Sagi almost tripped over his own feet.

"W- What?!" he stammered, red in the face as he looked up at Kalas.

"Just asking," Kalas said, "...truth be told, I know this girl who's about seventeen. You and Milly both remind me a lot of her."

Sagi's eyes widened as his cheeks flushed. He looked over his shoulder to see Milly was chatting Lyude's ear off about something or another

and thus out of earshot before turning to Kalas.

"R- Really?" he asked.

"Yeah, she was in Mira," Kalas nodded his head, "and you guys said you were heading for Mira, so I-"

"M- Mira?!"

Kalas nodded and Sagi looked ahead, his face unpleasantly flushed and hot as he held his head and thought about it. A seventeen year old girl

that looked like them, from Mira...it could be possible that- Well, he could never see himself marrying anyone other than Milly, but could it be

that-? Well, why not? He had always wanted to have kids. So...so maybe this girl Kalas was talking about- could it possibly be his future

daughter?

"What was her name?" he asked hesitantly.

"Melodia," Kalas said.

Sagi's eyes widened.

* * *

"You know, I like the name 'Melody'."

Sagi turned and looked at Milly as she looked out at the trail of souls through the Sfida, confused.

"What?"

"Melody," she said, glancing at him, "it's...musical. Hee. Except...it's also really common, you know? It sounds nice but it's also really normal

sounding..."

The girl let out an exasperated sigh as she stood up and then stretched her arms over her head.

"And nothing normal seems right to me anymore," she smiled jokingly.

"...Melodia, then," Sagi suggested.

"Eh?" Milly blinked, tilting her head to the side.

"It's like Melody, except its got a different kind of ring to it," Sagi said with a sheepishly smile.

"...I like it," Milly grinned, "it'll be perfect."

"Perfect?" he blinked. "For what?"

Milly just smiled at him and walked off down the corridor with a slight skip in her step, leaving Sagi feeling confused.

* * *

"...Uh, Sagi, you okay-?"

"M- Melodia?! Really?!" Sagi demanded, shock evident in his eyes.

"Y- Yeah, why?"

"She lives in Mira..." Sagi muttered to himself.

"So...she is your kid?" Kalas asked slowly, his eyes narrowed.

"I...I think so," Sagi muttered with a nod and a blush, his eyes glancing to the side.

_**Oh ho ho! Sagi you sly dog you.**_

"Stop teasing me," Sagi sighed.

"I was about to say the same," Kalas smirked, "so she is your kid then..."

Sagi nodded numbly and ran through the facts in his head again, trying to make sure he was absolutely certain of what he had concluded.

Okay, so in the future he and Milly would have a daughter named Melodia, so what? It was no big deal, people had children, and he knew he

would marry Milly someday...so why was this making him feel so uneasy? In his own thoughts, he didn't notice Kalas' face becoming unusually

serious as he began to delve deep in thought himself.

They were Melodia's parents...

* * *

"Finally, we're here!" Milly cheered, raising her hands over he head as they walked into town.

"Yeah," Sagi said somewhat offhandedly.

He hadn't said much since the jungle. He was still debating on whether or not to tell Milly about their supposed child, as that would be

awkward in many more than one way, but on the other hand if she found out anyway and knew he knew and didn't tell her.. He shuddered at

the thought.

"Sagi, are you all right?" Milly asked, frowning.

"H- Huh?"

"You look kinda worried about something..." Milly frowned, looking at him closely.

"Y- Yeah, I was just thinking," he faked a smile.

Kalas once again shot them a brief glare before glancing away.

"This is quite a lovely little town, isn't it?" Lyude said as he looked around.

"Why, yes it is!" Milly clapped her hands. "I want to show you the waterwheel! Our friend built it!"

"What? Well that's- ack-!"

Milly pulled Lyude by the arm to show him the feature further in and Sagi watched her retreating back as she dragged the redhead along with

her over the rickety old wooden bridged past the dense green foliage that decked the continent. Lyude. Lyude was Almarde's son, or at least,

they assumed that. In a way, that made Milly his aunt, though there was really no blood relation. However, Milly hadn't said anything to Lyude

about being best friends with his mother, so should he really feel guilty if he kept this 'Melodia' a secret, just for a while?

"So uh...Melodia," Sagi said softly so only Kalas could hear.

"Eh? What about her?"

"Are you...friends with her?" Sagi asked.

"I guess you could say that," Kalas said, glancing aside.

Something in the younger swordsman tweaked. What it was he could not quite identify, but there was definitely something inside of him that

made him suddenly incredibly untrusting of Kalas. What was it?

"You're not?" he snapped. "Then what are you to her?"

"Huh-? She's-"

"You're not her boyfriend, are you?" he demanded.

Oh. That was it.

Parental instinct.

"What-? Oh geez, no," he shook his head, "I- well, she's not a bad person or anything, I'm just saying- she's not my type."

_Yeah, he likes Xelha too much._

"Shut the hell up," Kalas snapped quickly.

_**Aw. Kalas and Xelha sitting in a tree, f-u-c-**_

_Watch the vulgarity!_

_**Make me.**_

The 'spirits' began to quarrel again as Sagi eased off of Kalas' case, letting the older warrior finally get in a breath of fresh air in relief. After a

quick search of the town, they found Savyna's home (much to Gibari's displeasure) but found that she had yet to return.

"Oh great, now what?" Milly huffed.

"Go back to the inn and wait, I guess?" Kalas shrugged nonchalantly.

"You know Savyna, correct?" Lyude asked, frowning slightly.

"Well...yeah," Milly's face fell, "but I knew her as a six year old. She's not exactly the same as she used to be."

"Well, people change over time," Sagi said with a bit of a sigh.

"Whatever, I'm hungry, let's get some grub," Gibari moaned, putting his hands behind his head.

Milly laughed loudly, throwing her head back in a manner that immediately reminded Kalas of a girl he knew.

"W- What's so funny?" Gibari asked, slightly irritated.

"Not everyone changes, I guess," she smirked at him.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" the man huffed with a slight red on his cheeks.

On their way back to the inn, Sagi was almost hit by a running figure of a girl with a flower on her head with short black hair. The teen backed

up a bit and the girl back-stepped and instantly began begging his forgiveness.

"I- I'm so sorry, s- sir!" she said, bowing repeatedly.

"It's fine," Sagi smiled awkwardly, "just watch we're you're going next time, all right?"

"Yes, yes," she nodded, "I'm so sorry, I needed to get to grama- grama!"

They all turned and looked as she ran off toward her house.

"...Well, that was odd," Kalas said simply.

"She looked like something was bothering her," Xelha bit her lip, "hm..."

"Well, it's none of our business," Kalas said with a shrug, turning to leave.

Sagi was already following her back to her house, Milly in tow and dragging Lyude along with her by the arm. Xelha shrugged and then

followed, everyone else head in the same direction as a muscle in Kalas' eye twitched.

"It's not our job to help every damn person who needs help!" he shouted, running after them.

Luckily for Kalas, the conversation was short: Mayfee, the girl, wanted her grandmother to get better and didn't have medicine that could be

ground in the mill. Mayfee wanted to offer komo mai cookies to their guardian angel shrine to pray for the waterwheel to work again, thing

was, she had none.

Which meant, of course, that they were going to get her some.

"We have time to kill, why not?" Gibari had said with a grin.

"Are you kidding?! Do you guys honestly want to go back through the jungle again just to get some freaking cookies?!" Kalas scoffed.

"Well, I'm not exactly thrilled about it," Milly sighed, "but we do have time, and Mayfee's..."

"We don't have anything better to do," Sagi supplied with a slight frown.

Kalas swore under his breath and rubbed his forehead, cursing everything in existence for having landed in this situation with all these people.

Still, despite his grumblings they all backtracked to the city in search of Komo Mai cookies, only to find the man was...well, fresh out.

"What do you mean you don't have any?!" Milly demanded, snarling a bit at the frightened vendor.

"W- Well, supplies are limited, you know," he said, "I need Celestial seeds to make them, and those aren't exactly easy to come by... Tell you

what, you bring me some of those seeds and I'll make all the cookies you want."

"So pretty much you're going to have us do your dirty work so you can stay in business?" Kalas asked flatly.

"Yeah," the man shrugged.

Even Sagi managed a disapproving glare as they walked off, debating on where it was they could procure some seeds.

"I don't think they'll let us back at the tree," Sagi said, "it's always guarded, except in extreme cases..."

"Let's ask Correlia," Milly supplied with a shrug, "she's always willing to help, though she doesn't show it too often..."

"Are you kidding?!" Kalas snapped. "She was completely useless when we gave her Ladekahn's letter-"

"Kalas, please!" Xelha scoffed. "She's a Queen, we need to be respectful!"

_**When they're done with their lover's quarrel, can we just go and ask already?**_

"L- L-?!" Kalas stammered, glaring up in the direction of Marno's voice.

"Is something wrong, Kalas?" Lyude asked politely, tilting his head to the side.

"W- What? No, nothing," he snapped, shaking his head.

_Hee hee._

_**Told you they were going to be fu-**_

_I told you to watch the vulgarity!_

_**Geez, what are you, my mother? I'll have you know you should respect your elders.**_

_Tch!_

Sagi sighed and started off for the palace, Kalas muttering wickedly to himself while everyone else wondered what exactly it was that made

'spiriters' so darn touchy. They walked in just in time to see Correlia walking down the stairs escorted by her guards, her eyes widening

somewhat in surprise.

"Sagi? Milliarde? What is it?" she asked. "I told you, I'm not going to-"

"N- No, your grace, that's not it," Milly said, shaking her head, "we were just wondering if it was possible we could obtain some Celestial Seeds.

We need them for something, and we-"

"Oh? Is that it?" she tilted her head to the side.

"Well, yes, your grace," Sagi bowed respectfully.

Correlia smiled slightly and clapped her hands. A servant ran off before returning a minute later and kneeling at his Queen's feet, presenting

her with a handful of strange, twisted looking seeds.

"Will these be enough for you?" she asked, gesturing to the handful.

"T- Those are-?" Gibari blinked, then laughed. "Oh man! That's convenient!"

"Your majesty?" Milly stared. "H- How did you- where did you-?"

"Why I keep them is no business of yours," she said somewhat coldly, "but if you want them, I suppose I can stand to give you a few."

Sagi smiled and then bowed once more.

"Thank you very much, your highness," he said.

Correlia nodded and the servant handed off the seeds to Sagi before racing back to his post.

"Now, if that is all," Correlia said, turning away from them, "I will take my leave."

"Thank you, Queen Correlia," Xelha bowed as well as the woman left.

_**Huh, that WAS convenient.**_

_Yeah, I thought we'd have to go all the way to the tree and look for one._

_**Correlia never does what you want, but she always helps you out for little things.**_

_You know?_

_**Yep. She wouldn't help us either, but when it came to something like needing supplies she forked it over, just not exactly bluntly. **_

_Ah..._

_**But gods I still hate side-quests.**_

_Side-...quests...? _

_**Uh...nevermind.**_

Before they knew it they had obtain the wanted cookies and once again traveled to Opu. They found Mayfee kneeling before the shrine in the

millhouse that used to be Lolo's workshop, praying silenlty.

"Wow...this place seems so...empty," Milly frowned.

"Yeah, without Lolo and her gadgets it just seems kind of deserted," Sagi said with a sigh.

"Oh, this was her shop?" Gibari asked. "Last I heard from her, she and that damn Palolo hitched up and they've been living in Pherkad. They

even have a couple of kids! I really should visit, I guess..."

"We met them," Milly said, "and trust me, Palolo the Third is just as obnoxious as his dad."

"Palolo himself is doing all right, though," Sagi smiled.

"Really?" Gibari grinned. "Heh, old bastard."

"You're older than he is, aren't you?" Milly said with an eyebrow raised.

"Er...well..."

Kalas snickered a bit as Gibari huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Mayfee?" Xelha said, coming up behind the girl.

"Hm-? Oh, it's you," she smiled weakly up at the blond, "c- can I help you?"

"No, we've got something for you," Xelha smiled back, kneeling down and presenting the cookies.

Mayfee gasped and took the cookies happily, rapidly stammering out thanks as she placed the cookies before the altar.

"Now I know the mill will start working!" she grinned. "Thank you so much!"

With that she settled down in front of the altar and prayed.

_**Oh please, putting cookies in front of it won't work-**_

There was a loud groaning sound as the mill began churning. The group stared numbly at the mill as it began to spin around faster and faster

as the child in their midst cheered.

"I knew it would work! Thank you so much! Now I have to get some Celestial Flowers! Thank you again!"

She was out like a shot, the group staring a bit between blinking.

"...Well, I guess miracles happen sometimes," Gibair laughed, "is what I'd like to say, but..."

"Yeah..." Milly said slowly, eying the back wall.

"All right, you've had your fun," Kalas smirked, "come on out."

The back wall slid aside and a little boy huffed as he ran out.

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Well, putting cookies in front of a statue doesn't make mills work," Kalas smirked.

"Hmph! Okay, fine, I've been working to fix it for a while..." he trailed, glancing to the side, "just...don't tell Mayfee, all right?"

"What? Why?" Sagi wondered.

"J- Just don't!" he scoffed. "Anyway, you were looking for that Savyna woman, right? Well, she's back, so just go and see her!"

The boy sent them all one last indignant glare before running off as fast as he could.

"...That boy...he likes her," Xelha smiled distantly.

"Eh?" Milly asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Mayfee," she smiled, her cheeks flushing a bit, "after all, you always do things for the one you like..."

The blond sent Kalas a brief glance, the bluenette fidgeting a bit and then looking at her strangely.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"What? Oh, nothing," she smiled, "well, let's get going and see Savyna."

Xelha walked out and Gibari sent Kalas a knowing smirk before the rest of them piled out in turn.

"What-? What are they all talking about?" Kalas huffed, frowning.

Sagi chuckled as he walked by.

"Oh, I think you'll figure it out."

**YES! IT ONLY TOO ME TWO SITTINGS TO WRITE THIS!!! T.T I'm so happy I finally did it!**

**Guillo: You could've done it sooner.**

**Me:...Put a banana in your ear.**

**Guillo: ?**

**Me: Review if anyone still reads this XD **


	10. Chapter 10

**n.n Smeeb. Betcha thought I'd never update, nay?**

**Guillo: We were hoping.**

**Me: Shut up now and maybe I'll make it easier for you in about…hm, two chapters?**

**Guillo: Hm? **

**Me: I own nothing. n.n**

**Guillo: Right, anyway…read it already.**

They entered the hut to find Savyna waiting for them, her dark hair and eyes holding a rather nerve-wracking gleam from the dim fire-light. Sagi nervously led the way in as she stood up straight, giving them all a calculative look.

"So you came," she said simply.

"Well of course we came, what, did you think we were gonna chicken out?" Milly scoffed, putting her hands on her hips.

"Why are you all fighting the empire?" she asked simply.

"Because we can't just let the Emperor get his way," Xelha nodded, a look of determination in her eyes, "who knows what he'll do if he gets hold of all the End Magnus."

"You do realize what you're all getting into? Ask him," she gestured to Lyude, "and Milliarde. They know exactly what the Empire is capable of, what it can and will do."

"We beat them once and we can beat them again," Sagi said simply, "I…I know we ruined your life, Savyna, but-"

"I wouldn't say 'ruined'," she closed her eyes, "but I would be a much different person if you hadn't done what you did. What's done is done. My father had his flaws and he had to be stopped, I realize that, but I… That aside. Are you all sure you want to do this?"

"Well, if we weren't we wouldn't be here now would we?" Kalas huffed.

"…" a small smirk came to her lips, "I see then. Well let's go."

She started for the door.

"W- What-?" Kalas blinked.

"The End Magnus is in the Celestial Tree, right? We better hurry if you don't want the Empire to get their hands on it first," she said simply.

"Hold on! How do we know we can trust you?!" Kalas accused.

"You can't," she said simply.

"…I…I think we should," Milly said slowly.

"What? But Milly…" Lyude stared, "I- I know I was in the Empire as well, but-"

"I had to make up for what my father did too," she said with a frown, "that's what you're doing, isn't it, Savyna?"

The dark-haired woman stopped abruptly, her back to them.

"…Let's go," she said, opening the door and leaving the hut.

"I think you nailed her," Gibari chuckled nervously.

"By the way, what did you mean about your father?" Kalas asked Milly.

"…Ah, that, well," she forced a grin, chuckling nervously, "um…plenty of time for that later! Come on, she's going to leave us behind!"

With that she followed Savyna's example and left the room.

"Milly's dad was the one that tried to promachinate the world twenty years ago," Gibari explained, "so I guess Savyna does have something in common with her after all."

"That and they were both royalty for a brief amount of time," Sagi gave a nervous laugh.

"…Wait, what?" Kalas stared at him.

"I realize that means Milly was a princess for the brief time Baelheit was in power, but why do you say Savyna was?" Lyude frowned deeply.

"Shanath was Olgan's son, the Emperor before Baelheit," Sagi explained, "so…yeah, Savyna technically would've been a princess, then…"

"So basically you're saying the rightful heir to the Emperial throne is SAVYNA?" Lyude gasped.

"…Now that you mention it…" Sagi tilted his head to the side.

"Well that explains it!" Kalas scoffed. "She wants to take down Geldoblame so she can take over!"

"Kalas!" Xelha scoffed. "We don't know that! I believe she really does have good intentions!"

_Hate to interrupt, but they really ARE going to leave us at this rate._

_**Seriously, hurry up.**_

"Oh, right," Kalas nodded, "let's go-"

The door swung open, Milly glaring at the lot of them with her face curled in a snarl.

"Why are you all taking so long?!" she demanded, red in the face. "Hurry up!!!"

"C- Coming-!" Sagi stammered, running out the door.

"All of you, come on!" she snapped again. "Let's get moving! Geez!"

_Well, she certainly does think she is a princess, now doesn't she?_

"Feh, no kidding…" Kalas muttered under his breath.

"Latara!" Xelha scoffed lightly.

The trip to the Celestial tree really wasn't anything interesting, but when they finally got there things quite suddenly took a turn for the…interesting. For instance, once Savyna attempted to gain entry for the group, they were informed that Mayfee had gone up the tree of her own accord.

"Wait? But isn't it dangerous?" Kalas frowned.

"Yes it is! The tree vermin are really acting up lately," the woman told them, "Mayfee should've known better than to- hey! Where do you think-?"

"We're in a hurry," Savyna said curtly, walking past the woman without another look.

"Sorry about this," Xelha smiled weakly, running past her as well.

"We can handle it, trust us!" Milly said, grabbing Lyude by the wrist and dragging him along.

"W- Wait, Milly-!" he stammered.

The tree was- as noted- huge. Vines crawled along the entire surface making it quite climbable, but no one quite paid any mind to it due to the attitude that had overtaken Savyna. She was looking for Mayfee, and it was clear through her expression she wanted to hear nothing or be distracted by anything until that was completed. Sure enough within minutes they spotted the young tree-keeper crying out in terror as a crustacean-like monster bore down on her.

"There she is!" Kalas pointed.

"We need to hurry," Savyna said, attempting to hide the obvious fear in her voice.

"By climbing?!" Milly demanded. "We won't get there in time!"

"None of us have the wing-strength to get up there and still fight-!" Kalas interjected.

There was a ringing sound and a flash of light as Sagi unfurled his eagle-like wings and zoomed straight for the young girl, leaving behind a myriad of green-blue feathers behind him. The group let out their assorted sounds of surprise as the youngest of their group flew up to the ledge Mayfee was on and then quite swiftly destroyed the monster near her.

"Transcension!" he snapped, landing on the ledge by Mayfee as it died.

"I- It's you…!" she gaped up at him.

Sagi turned from the defeated foe and smiled faintly down at the girl, kneeling down and holding out a hand for her to take. She did so gratefully before being pulled to her feet and Sagi looked her over.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You worried us."

"Y- Yes, I am," she nodded, staring at him, "th- thank you for saving me."

"No problem," he smiled again, this time with relief, "I'm just glad I could get here in time."

"How…how did you do that?" she marveled at him. "Your wings are amazing!"

"Huh-? Oh, yeah…" he frowned, looking at his wings a moment before dissolving them.

How DID he do that? It was a bit of a ways…and he wasn't even tired. The only time he'd felt that strong in his flight was when he had his mother's pinion, but he had returned that to her for good luck before heading off for Mira…

"Mayfee!!"

It was then that the rest of the group caught up with them, Savyna making a beeline to the young girl as she cried out her name. Mayfee stammered a bit as the elder woman looked her over while attempting to mask her concern.

"Are you all right? What were you doing up here?" she asked, biting her lip.

"I- I'm sorry, Savyna, I came to look for a Celestial flower…to make it bloom somehow," she frowned, looking down, "I'm sorry. I'm not good at this kind of thing…I'm not really strong and amazing like you are."

The dark-haired woman twitched.

"Th- That's ridiculous!" she snapped. "Amazing, me? Stop being stupid! Look, Mayfee, you don't want to be like me-"

"That's for sure," Kalas muttered.

"You should be your own person, understand?" she finished, ignoring Kalas.

"Well…all right," she nodded, "I'm sorry Savyna."

"…Tch," Savyna looked away, a mix between irritated and ashamed.

"Well, anyway, she's safe…but how the hell did you do that, Sagi?" Gibari asked.

"Do what?" he blinked. "O- Oh, right, that…um…I'm not quite sure…"

"Adrenaline rush?" Milly suggested with a shrug, though by her eyes it was clear she thought there was something more to it as well.

_**Hm…**_

_Is everything all right?_

_**Well, we'll see….**_

_Hm?_

"Well, now that Mayfee's safe, what do we do with her? Take her back?" Kalas asked.

"I can't go back! I need to find a flower!" she cried, distraught.

"We need her to open the seal to the inner tree," Savyna stated, "she is a keeper, after all. So she's coming with us; so long as we don't mind protecting her?"

"Of course we don't mind," Xelha bowed her head, "please lead the way for us, Mayfee."

"O- Oh, all right," the girl flushed, looking somewhat please with herself.

"Well, let's go then!" MIlly grinned her usual grin, striking her 'hands on the hips' pose.

"Yes, we need to hurry," Lyude agreed with a nod.

"I'm so happy you think the same, Lyude!" Milly cooed, hugging the teen.

"W- Wha-? Milly, please-!" he stammered, flushing bright red.

"Hey, watch it, Milly," Gibari chuckled nervously, "you'll make Sagi jealous."

"No, it's okay," Sagi smiled weakly, "let's head further up."

Near the top of the tree they found a door of sorts that was covered by thick branches. Seeing this, Mayfee stepped forward and opened the seal with some sort of chant, the foliage twisting away to allow them passage. Hesitantly, the group worked their way into the center of the tree and found a large pool of water, a cage constructed of roots on the farside of it. As with the others, the pendant on Xelha's neck began to glow and a beam hit the water.

_You have come, woe-laden child, to the depths of Malpercio's realm…you have released a great and terrible evil; yet you seem undaunted._

_**Well of course I'm undaunted. It's my f'ing power.**_

_Behold, the mercy of Malpercio!_

Two large, twisting tentacles of sorts came up near the cage, some squishy dark substance pulsing within it. The group prepared their weapons just as a beam shot out and struck Mayfee, knocking the girl to the ground.

"Mayfee-!" Milly cried.

"I'll take care of her," Xelha said, already at her side, "Take care of that thing!"

"Roger!" Gibari gave a little salute.

"Come on, let's get this over with!" Kalas snapped, already charging the guardian.

"I assume fire will be its weakness?" Lyude asked, noting the wood.

"Yes," Savyna said, equipping herself with fire magnus, "I would have to agree."

"Okay, fire it is!" Gibari snapped, readying himself for his 'explosive paddle' attack.

"Blast Tooth!" Sagi shouted, fire engulfing him and his blade.

"Don't show off, Sagi!" Milly scoffed. "Arebesque!"

The cudgels flew through the air and hit both of the tentacles, the guardian letting out some kind cry as they did so. Lyude focused on shooting through the cage into the main body, letting off for Gibari to whack away at the cage at intervals. Kalas and Sagi, like MIlly, concerned themselves with the tentacles. Savyna did a bit of a mix, thrashing at the tentacles and giving the cage a few swift hits before going back to her previous duty. Lyude was hit by a beam a few moments in further and Milly rushed to him, readying a healing magnus.

"Lyude! Are you all right?!" she cried.

"Y- Yeah-" he winced, attempting to stand up.

"Shh! Here, take this!" she said.

Sagi went in with his sword, this time going for the cage when suddenly he staggered.

"Sagi-!?" Milly said, noting this.

"I- I'm fine!" he cried, barely dodging an assault from a tentacle.

_**Like hell you are. What was that? We got really tired all of a sudden.**_

"Not now, Marno," he hissed, slicing the thick tendril.

_**All right, fine, later. **_

A few moments later Gibari burst open the cage and Savyna dove in, clawing up the fleshy core with her bloodclaws and flipping back gracefully as the guardian began to fall apart before them. There were various sighs of relief as they put away their weapons and the guardian spoke.

_Behold…the mercy of Maplercio…_

The gold End Magnus descended before them, falling right before Savyna, who gingerly grabbed it as the guardian dissolved. Two beams of light shot out, one toward Mira and the other toward Alfard….before the Magnus disappeared.

"Where-?" Lyude gasped.

Sagi let out a yelp and clutched his head, falling to his knees in the water as the magnus appeared before him, shining all the more intensely.

_**Aw crap not again-! C'mon Sagi, fight it! I'm trying to help but-!**_

"Someone, get that away from him!" Xelha cried.

Kalas ran forward and attempted to grab hold of the End Magnus-

"Don't you dare touch it!!!" a voice snarled.

Kalas stopped abruptly and stared down at the boy in shock, noting that the red-clad swordsman had locked him in a glare that would've brought even the bravest warrior to their knees. His eyes had completely changed , just like that time back in Diadem-

"Sagi, calm down," Kalas jerked back, putting his hands up in front of him, "I just-"

"It's MINE damn it-!!" Sagi shouted, getting to his feet and making a swipe for Kalas with his sword.

"Woah-!" Kalas gasped.

"Sagi-!!" Milly cried.

_**SAGI! STOP IT!**_

Sagi didn't stop, snatching the End Magnus and holding it close to his heart. He closed his eyes a moment and inhaled deeply, closing his eyes as some of the golden glow seemed to flow into him. His wings gave a jerk before they lengthened several inches, their color growing more vibrant.

"What's going on!?" Xelha gasped.

Savyna dashed in and attempted to snatch the magnus, only to gasp when her lightning-quick assault was blocked by Sagi's blade, the boy's eyes flaring open dangerously.

"Don't fuck with me, Savyna," he snarled.

Then the dark-haired woman gasped when Sagi brought back his other hand and promptly smacked her across the face, driving the woman into the water with a loud splash.

"Sa-!" Kalas cried, getting out his sword.

Then he cut off when he found steel at his throat in turn, Sagi's cold eyes locked on his.

"Do you want to try it too?" he hissed, a wicked smirk curving into his mouth.

"Sagi-!!!" Milly cried.

**Yes. Yes I did just leave you with a cliffhanger. No, no I don't regret it. n.n **

**Guillo: That was a bit cruel even by my standards, wench-**

**Me: Hey! This is chapter ten! :D SKLEE! n.n WHAT WHAT!**

**Guillo:…She's not even listening to me…-_-' Review if you wish, wenches. **


	11. Chapter 11

**n.n I was playing BK again and got the most violent urge to write this…**

**Guillo: Joy.**

**Me: Shut up!**

**Guillo: Freakyanimegal owns nothing.**

**Me: Wow, this has got to be one of the fastest times I've updated this…O.o'**

"Sagi, Sagi just calm down," Kalas said slowly, bringing his hands up in front of him, "we don't want anyone getting hurt, right? So just please put down your sword-"

Sagi gave him a steely glare, slowly lowering his blade from Kalas' throat. The taller swordsman gave a breath sigh of relief before Sagi brought up his foot and kicked his harshly in the stomach, Kalas choking out saliva as his eyes widened in surprise.

"Ah-!" he shouted, splashing into the water.

"You're a conniving little snake, you know that?" Sagi huffed coolly, tilting his head to the side as he glared down at him. "Everything about you ticks me off…"

Kalas glared up at him, slowly getting to his feet as he kept his eyes locked on the boy.

"Sagi, what's wrong with you?!" Milly shouted. "Please, stop this! Get away from the End Magnus! It's messing with your head!"

"Messing with my head?" Sagi laughed, turning his eyes on her in turn. "Now why would it do that? It's mine anyway, why shouldn't I take it back?"

_**Sagi, it is not 'yours'! These are my siblings' powers, and our power wasn't ours to begin with! Sagi, come on! It's the Dark Brethren! They're messing with your head-!**_

"Shut up, Marno!" he snapped, confusing the others momentarily.

_**Dammit Sagi, listen to me!!**_

_Kalas, he's distracted!_

Unfortunately, Sagi heard Latara's cry just in time to knock Kalas back again.

"That's it!" Gibari shouted, charging for the boy himself. "Snap OUT of it, Sagi-!"

Sagi turned his blade to its flat side and smacked the man upside the face with it.

"You all are starting to annoy me," he said in an arrogant drawl.

He cast his eyes over at Xelha, Milly and Lyude, a loud sigh coming from him.

"Are you all going to do something or just sit there? Let me know now, would you? It's better than just standing here," he rolled his eyes, the usually teal irises beginning to glow gold.

"W- What are you!?" Xelha demanded. "What did you mean it's 'yours'?! What connection do you have with Malpercio?!"

"Part of it is in me, of course," he spat, "why do you think Marno can't talk to any of you except the spiriter over there? Marno and I fused our hearts long ago, so I guess you could say I am Malpercio, to some extent."

"W- What?!" the blond gasped, her eyes going wide.

"Sagi-!" Milly shouted.

"S- Savyna!"

All attention shot to Savyna, where Mayfee was trying to help the woman to her feet.

"Savyna, are you all right-?"

She was cut off a moment later when Sagi somehow appeared right beside her, putting an arm around the girl's shoulder as she froze, picking up on his killer intent.

"You know, your voice REALLY annoys me," he said, putting the blade to her neck-

The girl screamed just as the boy's eyes snapped open wide, returning to their original color.

"W- What the-!?"

He jumped back from the girl and threw the End Magnus to the side, the object floating harmlessly down into the water as Sagi stared at it in horror, shaking from head to foot. The teen collapsed onto his knees in the water, his face pale as he took in the scene he had caused.

_**Sagi? Sagi, are you back? **_

"W…What was I doing?" he whispered in horror. "Why did I-?! I-!"

He let out a scream, clutching his head in his hands as Milly ran to his side, grabbing him by the shoulders and trying to talk to him while tears shot down his cheeks. The others, not wanting a repeat, quickly tucked away the End Magnus and huddled together, staring at the two time travelers. Sagi began to sob in Milly's arms, the brunette whispering hushed words of reassurance to the shaking male as he did so. After a moment or so, Milly looked up, noticing the intense stares they were getting.

"…Uh…" she said slowly, glancing aside.

"Milly…was that…true?" Xelha said in shock. "Sagi…?"

"…Sagi's not a spiriter," she said slowly, "he's a maldeiter. It- It was an experiment, a long time ago, where they put traces of Malpercio's remains into humans to try to artificially create spiriters… Sagi had Marno put into him before he was even born."

"Marno? But if he isn't a spirit then…"

_He's Malpercio?!_

"Seriously!?" Kalas gasped. "He is-?! But that can't be true! Sagi's no evil god-! Well, he didn't seem like one before all of this, anyway…"

"Malpercio isn't an evil god," Milly said softly, looking at Sagi, "not really, anyway…"

"What? But then what-?" Lyude started.

"Let's get back to Opu, I'll explain everything there," she said with a sigh, Sagi still sniffling pathetically into her shoulder, "and please- don't hate him for this. It's not his fault, he would never do this if that- that THING didn't…"

There was more silence before Xelha sighed and the nodded.

"All right then, let's go back."

* * *

So it was within a few hours Kalas and company learned the true nature of Malpercio; what it really was, how the siblings had gained their power, how they had been sealed away, and how the world as they knew it came to be. Throughout the whole thing Sagi sat off to the side of Savyna's hut, his eyes glazed and his head down. After all that could be said had been said, Kalas spoke first.

"So…the End Magnus are actually these siblings?" Kalas bit his lip. "So the one we have-?"

_**Che. Thoran, my older brother. Le was Pieda, my sister, and Ar was…will, me.**_

_Really?! _

Hearing Latara's outburst, the group instantly asked to be relayed the message, the spirit in turn repeating Marno's words to the rest of them as they took the news and stared in shock.

"I'm having trouble believing all of this…" Xelha admitted sadly.

"Well, what else can we tell you but the truth?" Milly scoffed, hands on her hips. "Whether you believe me or not, it's not my problem. The thing is, Sagi STILL…well, that happened because he got too close to the End Magnus! Just think of what'll happen if Geldo-fatass unleashes all of them! You saw what happened!"

Sagi flinched from the other side of the room, letting out a weak sound as he did so. What..would happen? If he'd lost it like that just by touching one of them, what was going to happen to him if the Emperor got his wish and released them all?

"Just another reason why we should hurry and stop him," Savyna said simply.

"What?! You're saying you believe them?!" Kalas gasped.

"There is not other explanation I can think of," she said simply, "besides…I know for a fact the maldeiter project was real. My father was involved in that."

Gibari gave a light twitch before he shook it off and then sighed.

"Well, I'm a bit upset why you didn't say this before, Mil," he looked at Milly, "but I understand, too. I probably would've kept quiet about it for a while myself…"

With a wide grin he abandoned any physical signs of doubt to reassure the couple.

"I've got faith in Sagi, I'll believe in both of ya! And Marno too…" he said a little more slowly.

"If you will, I will," Lyude nodded, "you two have been nothing but kind to us."

"I agree," Xelha said finally, "I- I am still a little wary about all of this, but Lyude's right. You two have done nothing but good things for us; I'll believe in you too."

"I can't believe this," Kalas sighed loudly, "I- I mean do you guys even remember what he just did up there?! I say we should keep this guy as far away from the End Magnus as possible-"

"Of course," Sagi said simply, getting up to his feet as they stared.

"Sagi?" Milly looked at him.

"Keep the End Magnus as far away from me as possible," he said solemnly, looking at all of them, "but I'm still going to come. I can't just stay out of this when it's my power that's causing all the trouble- I have to take responsibility."

"But it's not yours! It's Marno's, you just said that-!"

"We merged, I told you that," Sagi closed his eyes, "it's just as much my responsibility as it is his."

There was a long moment of silence. After a minute the teen forced a comforting smile, attempting to break the awkward silence.

"A- Anyway, the good thing is we have the Che magnus; so we can show Corellia;" he said, "I'm sure she'll believe what Geldoblame is trying to do."

"Y- Yeah," Milly forced a smile, "let's go and prove to her we were right!"

There was more silence before a murmur of agreements went through the group and they made their way toward the capital. Nothing more on the subject was muttered until they were before the queen and she was presented with the End Magnus, Sagi keeping to the far corner of the room as it was revealed. Luckily, this seemed to work seeing as it didn't appear to affect him. Unluckily, it appeared it did affect Corellia.

"Oh my-!" she cried, falling to the ground.

* * *

They were asked to wait in a spare room until she woke, which luckily wasn't too long at all. Though in that time Savyna explained how it was she had come to Anuenue; how she had become a mercenary after leaving the Empire and traveled aimlessly until she met an old fortuneteller. The old woman hold told her that if she went to Anuenue, she would become involved in something world-changing, a great battle for the planet.

"A fortune-teller…" Milly bit her lip.

It was then the guard entered.

"The Queen is awake, she wishes to see you all," he had said.

So it was they stood before the Fairy Guide, and she greeted them with a weak smile.

"…I have decided to help you all," she stated.

"Yes!" Milly pumped her fist. "I knew you'd come around-! Er, thank you, your highness."

"Yes," Sagi nodded with a polite smile, "it'll be a big help."

Corellia observed him a moment, concern evident in her expression.

"Your highness?" Sagi frowned.

"Are you…taller?" she asked as she bit her lip. "I could've sworn- no, nevermind. It's probably just my imagination."

The group shot Sagi a quick glance before disregarding it, turning their attention to the queen.

"So what is it you plan to do? Retrieve the other End Magnus?" Corellia asked.

"Yes, your highness," Xelha bowed her head.

"So you'll be heading for Mira?" she asked. "Please feel free to rest here and resupply, I shall go see King Ladekahn in the morning."

"Right," Xelha nodded, "thank you for everything, your highness."

"Sagi," Corellia said as they turned to leave.

"Yes, your highness?" he said.

"May I speak to you in private?"

Sagi looked at the rest of them and- seeing Milly nod- he in turn nodded as well. The group left with mild curiosity, leaving the maldeiter alone with the Fairy Guide. All was silent for a moment before Corellia got up, walking toward Sagi and looking him up and down.

"You are taller," she frowned, "I wasn't imagining it."

"I…." Sagi hesitated, noting that she was indeed just a bit shorter.

"They End Magnus here…what did it do to you?" she asked. "You said the last two reacted to you as well…maybe this has something to do with it? I doubt you would've grown noticeably in the last two days."

"….Yes," he nodded with a frown, "it reacted to me. It made me…I almost hurt them."

Corellia reacted little to this confession, almost as if she had been expecting such a thng.

"I see," she sighed deeply, "yet you are willing to continue with them?"

"So long as I stay away from the magnus, I'll be all right," he said, "it'll be worse if Geldoblame gets his way…then it won't matter where I am."

"I see," she closed her eyes, turning from him and walking toward her shelf, "in that case, I would like for you to take this with you."

"Your highness-?" he started.

She turned to him and held out a small pendant, a bright gem shining in its center.

"This amulet has been in the royal family for generations," she stated, "it has a number of protective charms and blessings on it; I don't know what it will be able to do for you, but-"

"Thank you very much your highness," Sagi smiled, taking it from her, "I'm honored."

"Take care of yourself, Sagi," she nodded her head, "I'll be praying for your success. After all, you have the power of a god yourself…"

"…" Sagi slowly looked back at her, unnerved by her words.

"Power may be wicked, but if controlled even the hottest fire can be the most useful," she smiled wisely, "stay strong, and I have no fear for the future."

Sagi smiled slowly, bowing as he turned to leave.

"Thank you, your highness."

* * *

"Back where we started…" Milly sighed.

They look out the window of the Mindeer as the multi-colored mass that was the Trail of Souls zoomed by them, twisting and writhing in color and texture as they flew through it. It was rather odd to be back here, when it was here that had landed Sagi, Marno and Milly in this whole mess to begin with.

"Things seem to be going smoothly enough," Sagi supplied.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and go back home!" Milly laughed. "Hah…nah, then they would be stuck back with us. That wouldn't do any good either."

"No, it wouldn't," Sagi smiled weakly, looking at her and then out at the trail.

All was quiet; calm and peaceful.

That should've been enough of an alert right there.

BOOM.

"Ah-!"

"What the-?!"

"Oh crap! It's the Goldoba!" Gibari cried, noting the Imperial ship firing on them.

"Are you serious?!" Milly shouted, running over to look. "Oh come ON! Can't we get a break?!"

"Can you fire back?!" Kalas asked as he ran forward as well.

"I've got my hands full just trying to dodge!" Gibari snapped, swerving the wheel back and forth.

"Dive underneath, lose them in the trail!" Savyna ordered.

Their efforts were in vain. Though the enemy ship did leave them be after a moment, they ship was sent spiraling out of the Trail of Souls, crashing in some rift between dimensions.

_**Oh great, not again**_

"Ow…." Sagi rubbed the back of his head, "I just have bad luck with this place."

"Well, at least we didn't lose our ship this time," Milly pointed out, stretching her back.

"Sound off, who's not dead?" Kalas groaned as he got to his feet.

After a few minutes, everyone was back on their feet. It was just as they feared, however: they had strayed from the trail, and thus had gotten lost in a completely different dimension.

"This is what happened to you two, right?" Kalas asked. "You got lost here and ended up in our time? Great, just great! So how do we know if we're even still in our time?!"

"Don't yell at me, it's not my fault!" Milly stomped her foot, glaring at him. "I wasn't the one that said to dive!"

"What would you have suggested, then?" Savyna spat coldly, leaning against the wall.

"Well…"

"Okay, everyone calm down," Sagi said, looking at everyone, "I'm sure if we think about this, we'll find a way to get to Mira. All we have to do is-"

"Yeah, everyone, let's take orders from Malpercio!" Kalas scoffed.

Time froze.

"…Okay, that's it," Sagi huffed, closing his eyes as he attempted to calm down, "that's it. I've had it. Kalas? How many times do we have to do this? What the HELL is your deal with me!? You know what?! I've HAD it trying to be the nice-guy with you-!"

"Sagi-!" Milly started, worried that he was going to go over-board again.

"No, I'm fine, Milly," he said back to her, then looked back at him, "look, Kalas, I've had it. I give up. You're just an ass. Plain and simple!"

"Sagi, you don't mean-" Xelha started.

"No, I do! Ever since we've started traveling together the only thing Kalas seems to do is shoot me down!" the red-clad swordsman pointed at his elder. "What is your problem!?"

"This is stupid," Kalas snorted, walking outside of the room.

"Stu-!? Get back here!" Sagi snapped. "What?! You mad you're not the leader?!"

Kalas stopped.

"That's it, isn't it?" Sagi slowed, managing to calm himself somewhat. "You always try to call the shots but they listen to me over you…is that it?"

Kalas stayed silent for a moment more before he walked out.

"K- Kalas!" Xelha said, running after him.

Sagi let out a loud sigh and sat down on a bench, rubbing his head with his palm. So that was it, huh? That's why Kalas didn't like him….he had somehow become the leader of this rag-tag group- well, whenever Xelha wasn't- and Kalas was mad at him for it. It's not like he meant to, not really. Being some kind of hero in this time kinda pegged him for leader here, he guessed…

"Sagi, are you all right?" Milly asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Millly," he sighed, "I just…"

"He had it coming," Savyna stated coolly.

"I must admit, Kalas has been quite unfair toward you," Lyude agreed with a weak nod, "though I do wish this could have been settled without shouting…"

"Aw, Lyude!" Milly glomped the red-head. "You're so sensitive!!"

"Ah-! M- Milly, please-!" the soldier stammered, flushing bright red.

"Just give everyone a chance to cool down and it'll be fine," Gibari said, "trust me."

"Yeah-"

"Everyone!"

They turned to look as Xelha ran in, a bright smile on her face.

"We've got a way out!"

**And next chapter, we shall have MIZUTI! D: DUN DUN DUN.**

**Guillo: Wonderful, one of those freaks.**

**Me: n.n And then we'll have another character entrance…(grins evilly at Guillo)**

**Guillo: …I don't like that look, wench.**

**Me: Review! n.n **


	12. Chapter 12

**Look! I UPDATED! :D ehehehe…n.n'**

**Guillo: Aren't we lucky. Freakyanimegal owns nothing.**

**Me: Nope. Ehehehehehhe….**

**Guillo:…I'm not even going to ask.**

The group piled out of the ship just as the strange creature descended from its own. Well, to the majority of the group it was a strange creature, Sagi and Milly noted quite easily what it was.

"H- Hey! You're an Earth Child!" Milly gasped, stepping back a bit. "What are you doing here?!"

"A- A what?" Kalas stared.

"Brown-haired lady be right, Great Mizuti be a Child of the Earth!" the masked being jostled around happily, clapping its hands. "Who you be, and how you be knowing of Great Mizuti?"

"I'm Sagi, and she's Milly," Sagi explained, "we've been below the taintclouds before. Are you from…Gemma?"

"Great Mizuti indeed from Gemma be!" it chirped. "Sagi be most traveled and knowledgable! Uh-huh!"

"Woah woah, back-up, taintclouds?" Gibari shook his head. "Below the taintclouds? You've been there? This…person, is from there? That's impossible! No way can-"

"It's possible all right," Milly nodded "There's land and villages under the taintclouds, but not many people know about it. It's kinda hard to get there, we only managed to go there easily because our ship was made of machina."

"Earth Children…" Xelha hesitated, then gasped, "Oh! Aren't you…?"

"Are we be what?"Mizuti asked her.

"Yeah, Xelha, what is it?" Kalas looked at her.

"Uh…"

"The Earth Children are the ones that defeated and imprisoned Malpercio a thousand years ago," Sagi explained bitterly, glancing aside as he did so.

"Wh-?" Gibari gasped.

"True it be! Smart you all are!" Mizuti clapped her hands. "Defeated Malpercio was by Mizuti's people and the godcraft! Like Seginus!"

This brought mainly looks of confusion, but to Sagi and Milly it brought a painful remorse. Godcraft…Guillo had been a godcraft. The pair fell silent as they remembered their old comrade, unwilling to say anything.

"You not knowing what godcraft be?" Mizuti looked around at them. "Great Mizuti shall show you! Great Mizuti be having one in ship, that Great Mizuti be."

That caught their attention.

"W- What?! What do you mean?" Sagi gasped.

"Yes, yes! But….there is problem, issue, small little flaw," Mizuti hovered a bit, "it not be whole. Mizuti be finding it on her trip here, you see, it not be having a head…"

There was a moment of silence.

"What-?!" Milly gasped.

"Really?! Where is it?! Show it to us!" Sagi exclaimed running forward toward the being.

"Woah, calm down, Sagi," Gibari frowned, "what's the matt-?"

"Guillo," Savyna said simply, her eyes widening somewhat, "is it talking about Guillo?"

"Guillo? Wasn't that…oh damn! Seriously!?" the fisherman gasped as well.

"I'm sorry, what is Guillo?" Lyude frowned. "I don't quite understand…"

"Great Mizuti be getting the godcraft, um-hmm?" it asked. "Be waiting a moment for Great Mizuti to return, um-hmm?"

With that it slipped into the ship, leaving a tension in the air as Kalas rounded on the others.

"Okay, what is 'Guillo'?" he demanded, frustrated.

"Guillo was Sagi and Milly's buddy," Gibari explained, "it was kind of a robot type thing…"

"Highly reminiscent of an Imperial machina fighter," Savyna continued, eying the ship, "though the empire has yet to use such weapons in two decades."

"Really? But if that's true why is it…not with them?" Xelha bit her lip.

"…Guillo…he sacrificed himself to save us," Milly bit her lip, "when Tarazed went down- but- but then this can't be happening! Mizuti must be lying! Guillo's gone!"

"We'll know when we see it," Sagi said slowly, though it was obvious he was anxious as well.

"Great Mizuti brought it!" the being cried not but a second later, setting the object on the floor.

There were gasps all around, with the exception of the younger crowd. A godcraft without a head, its magenta, blue and yellow hues almost swerving in and blending with the strange are of space they currently stood in.

"Guillo-!" Milly gasped.

Sagi ran forward and looked it up and down, his eyes wide as he confirmed it. Guillo. It was Guillo! A little beat up, seeing as it had been twenty years since this body was last active, but-

"…Maybe…" he trailed, slowly reaching for his pack.

"Do you have his head?" Savyna asked, unable to keep the concern from her voice. "If you simply replace it- the body still looks functional, perhaps…"

"Woah, Savyna…I don't think I've seen you this worked up before," Gibari said slowly.

The woman shot him a glare before directing her gaze back to Guillo, the group crowding around as Sagi pulled the hooded part from his pack. They watched in silence, a buzzing excitement going through them as Sagi slowly reset the part onto the rest of the machina.

Nothing happened.

"…" Sagi closed his eyes, biting his lip as he attempted not to let out a sob.

"…Feh," Savyna huffed, turning away so no one saw the mist in her eyes.

"That's a shame…" Gibari muttered.

"D- Dammit! You stupid DINGBAT!" Milly shouted, kicking Guillo as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"May Great Mizuti be making a suggestion?" Mizuti asked.

The group looked up at her with a 'yeah, what?' expression.

"Why you not be hitting the on switch first?" it pointed at the back of the head under the hood.

"There's an on switch…?" Milly stared.

They huddled around where Mizuti had pointed, finding that there was indeed a switch of some sort. An awkward silence overcame the group as they stared dumbly at the little piece of machina, Milly and Sagi slowly interchanging glances.

"…Well for gods' sake! Hit it!" Milly scoffed, shouting at her boyfriend.

Sagi didn't need to be told twice and a brief moment later a strange hum accompanied with a pulse of some kind began to come from Guillo-

And then it abruptly jumped up, causing everyone else to jump back.

"Where am I?! What is this place?! Who are you peop-…le…" Guillo trailed.

The godcraft caught sight of Milly and Sagi.

"…Sagi? Milliarde?" it relaxed, coming out of its battle stance. "Is that you?"

The couple could only stare like complete idiots…then they simultaneously leaped forward and crushed the machina in a hug, startling all present.

"Guillo-!"

"Guillo! I'm so happy you're alive-!!"

"What-?! Get off me! Off I say!"

The rest of the group could only stare in a dumb silence before Gibari cracked a smile, scratching his nose with a light 'heh'. Savyna stared at the scene before a slight smirk came to her lips and she looked away, closing her eyes in an attempt to fight off the smile trying to overtake her.

"Now, where the hell are we?" Guillo huffed after finally getting the two off of him.

"Uh…hey, Guillo, do you remember Gibari?" Milly said, glancing back at the brunette.

"Yes, why? What does that hick have to do with anything?"

Gibari twitched.

"Hick-?! I'm not a hick!" he protested loudly.

"Who the hell are y- y-…you…" Guillo froze, looking him up and down.

There was a moment of silence.

"Let me explain," Savyna stated as she stepped forward, "it's been twenty years since you were last awake-"

"T- Twenty-!? Don't toy with me! Sagi and Milliarde would be old by then!" he said, pointing at the pair.

"That's the interesting part," she said, "now, if you'll let me explain…"

Within a few minutes Guillo was staring at them all, saying nothing as his two former teammates nervously exchanged glances. After a moment or two he finally spoke.

"So that musclehead is Gibari? Somehow that figures, it's not like he was the scholarly type," Guillo huffed haughtily.

"What-? Why you-!"

"Guillo, do you remember me?" Savyna asked, walking forward.

"You? Uh…let's see, if I met you twenty years ago you were probably a little brat, right?"

Savyna narrowed her eyes a bit but nodded nonetheless.

"Hm…" it mused, "letsee… Well, I met a lot of brats, but you do seem familiar…"

"You saved my life in the Dark Serviceman Headquarters," she stated flatly.

"I did? Well then-"

Guillo's 'eyes' of sorts lit up, the robotic person all but jumping backward in shock.

"Shanath's brat?! Why- Wow! You uh…have grown up," Guillo coughed…as much as he could.

"I owe you my life," the woman stated, lowering her head, "I'd like to express my gratitude and I hope that I can repay you in some way."

"What? Feh, don't be stupid, I couldn't let a child die," it shrugged.

"Very well then," Savyna closed her eyes, "but my offer still stands."

"Right, so…where are we again?" Guillo asked, looking around.

"We be stuck in another dimension we be," Mizuti said, "the Great Mizuti just about being to lead them to Mira, the Great Mizuti be."

Guillo stared.

"Things that speak in the third person really annoy me, to let you know," it growled.

"The Great Mizuti not be speaking in third person!"

"Sagi, would you be mad if I were to eat this thing?"

"Guillo…" Sagi gave his friend a warning glare.

"All right all right! Geez," he huffed. "So it's going to lead us out? Then let's get going! First off…who are the rest of you lot?"

"I- I'm Xelha," the blond smiled and nodded her head, "it's nice to meet you Guillo, we've heard a lot about you."

"I am Lyude, a pleasure to meet you as well," the red-head smiled.

"You Lyuvan's kid?" Guillo asked bluntly.

"P- Pardon? You knew my father?" he gaped.

"Taking that as a yes, now who's the douche in the cape?"

"D- Douche!?" Kalas spat, taking a step forward. "What's your problem?! I-!"

"His name's Kalas," Milly explained, "and yeah, he is a douche."

Kalas scoffed and went to say something when Savyna cut him off.

"Guillo is right, we need to hurry on to Mira if we want any chance of getting the End Magnus before Geldoblame does," she stated.

"Geldoblame? That freak? What's he doing going after those?"

"Er…we'll explain on the way," Sagi chuckled nervously. "It's good to have you back, Guillo."

"Yeah, it is- I mean, you know, I miss having a living can-opener around is all," Milly smirked and crossed her arms over her torso.

"Wench!"

Sagi laughed to himself, glad that they had been reunited with their old companion. It was so strange that they had ended up in this forsaken place only to find one of their most dear friends, but he supposed that a lot about life was ironic…dreadfully so.

"Okay! Great Mizuti be leading way now!" Mizuti chirped.

And, as said, they piled into the Mindeer and prepared to follow Mizuti.

"Be scary monsters!" it said back to them. "Great Mizuti be busy trying to find the path to Mira, so you be fighting off the monsters!"

"Okay, right behind you," Sagi nodded.

"I've got the helm," Gibari said, "everyone else, get ready to kick some monster ass!"

"All right then! Here the Great Mizuti…goes!"

The little being was off like a shot, Gibari kicking the Mindeer into full speed just to keep the strange craft in sight. As warned, there were an abundance of monsters that they encountered on the way, but the group was more than capable of defeating them, especially with the added help of Guillo, who (through rusty in more than one way) managed to provide significant assistance. This wild goose chase continued for a few minutes before Mizuti pulled over, and they did too.

"So uh… Where is it?" Kalas asked.

"Um…The Great Mizuti might be-well, no! The Great Mizuti never be! The Great Mizuti can never ever be…lost…" it trailed.

They stared.

"Are you kidding me?" Guillo growled, its eyes lighting up red. "We followed you this entire way and you don't know where you are?! I should tear you apart for this!"

"I agree," Kalas smirked, "wow, and here I thought I wouldn't like any of you three."

"I don't take that as a compliment from a cape-wearing prick like you, sorry to say," he crossed its arms and glared at Kalas.

"W-?! Why you-!"

"Everyone calm down!" Xelha said, frowning. "Fighting amongst ourselves isn't going to solve anything! Let's think about-"

No sooner than when she said that the ground began to shake beneath them, drawing their attention to a wormhole of sorts that had begun to form. Out of this twisting mass slid a hideous, steely creature that resembled a snake with armored legs. It writhed and shrieked, causing our heroes (and Kalas) to back up.

"W- What is that?!"

"It be in the exit!" Mizuti cried. "Kill monster, fly through portal!"

"All right," Kalas smirked, "now we're talking!"

"Everyone be careful!" Xelha said.

In this case, however, it appeared that Xelha was right. The monster proved the be quite a challenge, and within a few minutes they were wearing out.

"C- Crap!" Kalas huffed. "Why won't it die?!"

"I- I have no idea…" Milly moaned, "This thin is pissing me off- Ah-!"

It swiped in for Milly and the girl went to guard. However, it didn't matter much seeing as Sagi had taken his position between his girlfriend and the beast.

"Sagi-!"

"Grrr… Get away from her!" he shouted, knocking the thing's head back.

As soon as he did so, his eyes widened, his wings stiffening behind him. The creature had backed up and stopped moving, staring at the red-clad swordsman. Sagi hesitated just a moment before Marno jumped to a conclusion.

_**That's it-! It senses me! Sagi, tell it to leave!**_

"Get out of here!" Sagi snapped at the creature, pointing his sword away from both the portal and the group. "Leave!"

It began to undulate again, the portal widening behind it. Then it rapidly slid out of the whirling mass, revealing it to have several pairs of legs along its snake like body. Once the whipping tail had exited it moved to the side of the now open portal, sitting down like a loyal guard dog.

Needless to say, everyone stared dumbly at Sagi.

"…What?" he said, flushing a bit. "L- Let's hurry up and go! You guys can freak out on me later!"

They didn't need to be told twice. So off they all went, speeding back into the Trail of Souls and arriving in Mira in under a minute. Once they had docked, Mizuti came aboard and they all commenced giving Sagi awkward stares.

"Great Mizuti be…confused," it said, "How is it you be controlling the monster?"

"Uh…" Guillo trailed.

"He's…special," Xelha provided, glancing at the teen.

"Y- Yeah," Gibari forced a smile, "Sagi's not really normal…but hey, it worked, right?"

"Yes, it did," Savyna said simply.

"Well… Great Mizuti be a bit 'freaked', but if you be trusting Sagi, Mizuti be trusting Sagi!"

The teen stared a moment and then smiled, obviously feeling better at the compliment.

"Well then! Great Mizuti be having work to do now!" it said, turning to leave. "Be wishing you luck!"

And with that it left.

"…So, I take it they know about the whole…Marno thing?" Guillo asked Sagi, jerking a 'thumb' at the rest of the group.

"Yes, we told them," Milly nodded, "we kind of had to, because at the last End Magnus-"

"End Magnus?" Guillo interrupted. "You didn't quite explain what's going on with those yet."

"Oh, right," Sagi smiled nervously, "Okay, Guillo, um…where to start…"

"Allow me," Xelha said, stepping forward "you always end up having to do the explaining."

"Huh? Oh, thank you, Xelha," the boy smiled. "I appreciate it."

They all managed to sit back and 'relax' a bit as Guillo became informed on the situation. It took it rather well, actually, that and it didn't quite like Geldoblame in the first place, so it wasn't like it was hard to take in.

"All right then, so we need the one here?" Guillo asked. "Well, let's get a move on!"

"Paranasse is the closest town," Kalas said, we should go by there first.

"After you," Sagi said, "you're the only one that's been here before, please lead the way."

Kalas raised an eyebrow at the younger swordsman's smile but ended up returning it with a smirk.

"All right…I will," he nodded, "thanks."

They made their way into the continent of illusions, finding themselves in the pastry village. Milly's first reaction to this town made completely of sugary goodness, was, of course- …well…

"Oh my GOD…" she gaped, her mouth hanging open, "I…I…can we live here?!"

"Milly-" Sagi started.

"This tree is made out of cake!" she cried, taking a bite out of a 'tree'. "It's DELICIOUS-!"

"M- Milly! Don't eat the-!"

"Mine are better, damn it!"

The group turned their attention to a ways down the street, where two chefs were arguing about their pastries. Sagi and the others watched in mild amusement before the quarrelers were interrupted by a young woman in white.

"L- Lady Melodia!" one shouted.

The color bled from Sagi's face.

"M…?" he stammered, looking up at Kalas.

Kalas shot him a quick look, a 'keep quiet' look. Sagi gave out a huff and glared at the elder briefly before directing his attention to Melodia, whom had started to walk their way. Yes…yes, she did look like she could be his daughter. He wasn't sure where the white hair had come from, but she definitely had some of his features, Milly's as well. Apparently, though, Milly herself had noted that something was a bit…off, about the 'Lady' and was staring at her.

Then Melodia tripped.

"Oh-!" she cried.

Sagi immediately went to catch her, but Kalas had beaten him to it. The teen backed up and felt a strange emotion begin to bubble up violently inside of him, something akin to anger…

"Are you all right?" Kalas asked, helping her up.

"Why yes, thank you traveler," she smiled, "I-"

Then she looked at Sagi.

"You…!" her eyes widened, her mouth falling agape.

"Um, I don't think we know you…" Milly trailed, tilting her head to the side as her eyes narrowed.

"You're…" she whispered, her eyes widening even more.

Melodia walked forward, staring intently at the pair. She looked at Milly, then Sagi, inching in rather uncomfortably close to Sagi.

"Father…?" she gaped.

**CLIFFHANGER! MWAHAHAHAHAHHA! Oh God I love being me n.n**

**Guillo: It's not like they'll see any more of this story for another three months-**

**Me: Be grateful. I haven't updated 'Fallen Hero' in seven…-_-' Man I need to write that…**

**Guillo: Tch. Review, I am in this story now! It deserves attention! **

**Me: Bleh. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Ay yes, I took this long to update DX I fail.**

**Guillo: That you do.**

**Me;: blegh, I own nothing.**

**Guillo: Read, wenches.**

Sagi tensed, the breath catching in his throat as the white-haired girl stared at him intensely. It lasted for naught more than a second, though, seeing as Melodia quickly shook her head, smiling.

"I'm sorry, traveler, that must have been very strange for you…" she said, tilting her head to the side, "It's just you look very, very much like my father, and-…and your friend looks very much like my mother…"

Milly flinched, her eyes widening and jerking to Sagi briefly before Sagi spoke.

"I- It's all right," he said, forcing a smile as well, "I'm not that weirded out."

_**Bullshit.**_

"I'm terribly sorry, I was a bit thrown off from falling and you do so resemble them, but you are far too young, please accept my apologies," she smiled.

"It's fine, really," Sagi said, using all his willpower to keep his smile on his face.

"Still…well then, I shall be on my way," she smiled, "Terribly sorry about this."

They nodded dumbly as the girl left and walked further into the village with her escorts, leaving the group in a shocked silence.

"…Her father?!" Milly cried, her eyes wide as she jerked her head to look at Sagi.

"I think that it's obvious," Savyna snorted a bit, "I would assume that girl was Sagi and Milliarde's daughter."

Silence fell like a rock.

"O- Our- d- daughter?!" Milly gasped, eyes wide as dinner plates.

"…Somehow I don't find myself shocked," Guillo said simply.

"That girl?! Mine and Sagi's daughter?! You've gotta be kidding me! She looks nothing like-…where'd the white hair come from?!"

"It used to be blue, but ever since she got sick it's been white," Kalas shrugged.

"Oh? You know her?" Xelha frowned, looking at the blunette.

"I'm from here," Kalas rolled his eyes, everyone on Mira knows about that.

"I can't believe this-! And why do you look so freaking calm, Sagi?!"

The group rounded on Sagi as Milly did, leaving their co-leader both blushing and on the spot.

"I…Kalas told me about her," he sighed.

More silence.

"WHAT!? Why didn't you say anything?!" Milly demanded, stomping her foot against the ground.

"I- I was embarrassed!" Sagi stammered, his eyes widening. "How was I supposed to tell you that you and me were gonna have a kid?!"

"Well isn't that what we planned?!" Milly cried, a hurt element now added to her expression. "Sagi, I thought we both knew how we felt about each other! Why would it be awkward?!"

Sagi flushed, glancing aside.

"Well…it is," Gibari grimaced a bit, "I can completely understand why Sagi's a bit off about this…it'd be kinda freaky."

"Hm, surprisingly she's not a violent banshee like you are, Milliarde," Guillo pointed out, putting a hand on its hip.

"Can it, can!"

"This isn't the place to do this," Xelha frowned, "We should go somewhere private if we need to go into this right now."

"I agree, it's far too suspicious," Savyna said, glaring slightly.

"Well, can we do that after I visit a friend of mine?" Kalas asked. "She lives near here and I haven't seen her since I left home."

"Well, Sagi and Milly need to talk right now," Xelha frowned, "Why don't you go see her and we'll meet you at the inn?"

"Feh, I don't care," Kalas shrugged, "See you there in a few minutes, I won't take too long I think."

"Thank you, Kalas," Xelha smiled weakly, "…Do you want me to come with you, maybe? Or would you rather see her by yourself-?"

"Ah, a girl, correct?" Lyude blinked. "Is she your girlfriend?"

Xelha flinched.

"W- What-? I mean-…I didn't know you had a girlfriend, Kalas," the blond smiled weeklh.

"Wh-? No! She's not my girlfriend!" he scoffed, shaking his head. "She's a childhood friend, we grew up together. She works in the bakery here and when I left Mira I didn't say goodbye to her….so I just think I should pop in."

"Oh," Xelha said, looking noticeably happier, "All right then, we'll meet you at the inn."

"L- Look, this isn't necessary," Sagi said, flushing, "Milly and I can talk later, besides, I'd like to meet Kalas' friend-"

"You're just trying to get out of this, Sagi!" Milly shrieked at him, stomping her foot into the ground again.

"Get out of what? Milly, I didn't do anything! I just-"

"You didn't tell me!" she said.

"You said yourself, it shouldn't' be such a big deal since we do love each other and-"

MIlly gasped, her eyes widening as her jaw dropped.

"…What?" Sagi asked, frowning a bit.

"My, you actually said 'love'?" Lyude blinked. "I didn't realize you two were that serious…but then, I suppose you must, if that girl is here-"

"Be quiet, Lyude!" Milly snapped at him.

"I- I beg your pardon-?" the red-head started, blinking a little.

"I said be quiet!" she snapped at him again, giving him a rather terrifying glare.

"A- All right," the soldier said, shrinking away from her a little bit.

"Look- Sagi…" the brunette turned to her boyfriend, look at him a moment before sighing and turning away, "Okay fine, let's go with Kalas…but I'm gonna let you have it later!"

Sagi chuckled nervously as the rest of the group exchanged awkward looks and one or two of them a snicker of sorts. However, they wouldn't have missed too much when talking to Trill- at least so they thought, all until the girl mentioned odd goings ons at the garden of illusions, northwest of them. Needless to say, this caught their attention. In the end it was decided that the place deserved a good look, at the very least, so Kalas- familiar with the area- lead them to the garden.

"…Is…that water up there…?" Sagi stared, craning his neck up to look at the ceiling.

"Yup, I guess it must be sort of weird to you guys," Kalas smirked, "the ceilings a floor- that is, you can walk on it and gravity works that way too."

The group stared at him.

"Intriguing," Lyude stared, brining a hand to his chin.

"Sounds whacked out to me," Milly raised an eyebrow.

"Typical wench response," Guillo said, shaking its head.

"Can it!"

"I have a feeling this kind of exchange goes on a lot," Savyna noted with a bit of an irritated look.

"Yes," Sagi sighed, "You get used to it after a while."

"Joyous," the woman spat dully.

"Well, let's get a move on," Xelha nodded, "We're not gonna find it standing around-"

"Yeah, about that," Sagi frowned deeply, biting his lip.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"…Maybe I should wait outside? If an End Magnus is here, then it'd probably be best if I stayed away from it," the teen said, looking at his companions.

"Well…that's probably for the best," Xelha mused, "but you don't have to go until we find it, it should be far in if it is here."

"How will we know, though?" he asked.

"Well, the guardian always appears before it does," Milly pointed out, "When we run into the guardian you can just wait outside the room or- or go back enough so you're not there, I guess. I can go with you, if you want, I'm sure everyone else can handle it on their own."

"That's okay, I think we should do what you said," Sagi shook his head, "I'll just head back when the guardian shows up- that is, if that's okay with everyone?"

"Got no problem with that," Gibari smiled his usual kind smile, "You do what you gotta do, Sagi, leave the other stuff to us."

"Let's stop talking already, " Kalas rolled his eyes, "We gotta get it before Giacamo does!"

"As far as we know, they don't know about it," Savyna stated, "but we mustn't assume that. Let's hurry."

With that they were off. Now, they had all seen some pretty strange things in their travels, but Mira was definitely taking the cake, if this garden was any sign. Upside down floors were only half of it, there were also floating blocks, giant scales, monsters that looked like hands and a maze that had an almost…cartoon, feel to it. Especially since the monsters appeared to be nothing more than blobs of green goo, and Sagi swore he heard some kind of music he described as '8-bit' to them, but after they all gave him strange looks he quieted down and dealt with it in silence. When they finally did navigate their way through the overall confounding garden, they found themselves in a single room under the complex- or above, they weren't quite sure. The point was, it was kind of obvious- based on the shrine- to tell that this was where the magnus had to be- or was supposed to be.

"All right, I'll meet you guys outside," Sagi said with a frown, turning to leave.

He didn't get chance to, however, seeing as a second later all their magnus were pulled from them and began circling violently around the rock.

"H- Huh?! Hey, they didn't do this at the last one!" Milly cried, startled.

_**Wait- Sagi, something's not right….it doesn't feel like an End Magnus.**_

"No, it doesn't," Sagi frowned, turning back to face the scene fully along with his friends, "What's going on here? This isn't an End Magnus, so…what is-?"

There was a flash of golden light followed by a swirling of shadow, the shadow twisting and forming itself into….a card, a giant magnus, that swirled in front of them.

"Well whatever it is, I'm guessing it's not gonna ask us to dinner," Kalas scoffed, taking out his weapons and wings.

"Got that right," Milly huffed, doing the same.

The rest of the group got into their battle positions, preparing to take on the giant magnus monster in front of them. It wasn't too hard to defeat, it was relatively easy compared to the last few, though now with the added help from Guillo. When it dispersed it left in its place what appeared to be a magnus- but not an End Magnus. It was dark and swathed in shadow, twisting before them.

"It's…not an End Magnus? Then what is it?" Xelha frowned.

"It kinda feels like one," Sagi frowned, taking a step forward then jerkily back again, not wanting to get too close, "Er…but…it's not."

_**It's a shadow.**_

_A Shadow Magnus. That means that the End Magnus…USED to be here, then?_

"You mean someone else could've taken it?" Gibari snarled, obviously not happy to hear the news.

"It seems like it," Xelha frowned, "But then….who took it?"

"You don't think Giacamo got it?!" Kalas exclaimed, anger mixing with panic.

"If he had, I'm sure we would have heard something about it, if it was recent…" the blond sighed, biting her lip, "There's nothing we can do here, so we should head back."

"What about this thing, though?" Kalas asked, glancing at the dark magnus. "Should we just leave it here?"

"Take it," Savyna said, "If we leave it here then it might cause problems."

"Sounds good to me," Guillo reported.

"What? But what about Sagi-? I mean, are we sure it's safe?" Milly frowned.

"I'll be fine so long as I don't get too close," the boy smiled weakly, attempting to reassure her.

"Right, so let's get back to Parnasse," Kalas said.

"You seem in a hurry, sure you don't want to hurry back to see Trill?" Gibari smirked.

Xelah flinched just a bit as Kalas rolled his eyes, letting out an annoyed huff.

"Why are you picking on me?! If anything, you should be mentioning Sagi and Milly's kid!"

Silence fell.

"Before the wench starts shouting, maybe we should get out of here first, huh?" Guillo pointed out.

They hurriedly agreed and left before either member of the happy couple could respond, Gibari dragging Sagi along by the arm and Milly reluctantly walking after them. Luckily they seemed to have no real trouble on their return, and there were even relatively little outbursts between the oh so happy couple (meaning Milly got tired of yelling at Sagi). However, that all changed for the worse when they arrived in the confectionary village….

And were then immediately accused of being Melodia's kidnappers.

"W- What?! What do you mean she's been kidnapped!?" shrieked Milly, her eyes going wide in horror.

"Who took her?" Sagi demanded, surprisingly more angry than his future spouse. "What happened-?"

"Don't try to play dumb, you're strangers, you must have taken the lady!"

"But that's ridiculous! We-!" Kalas began, raising his voice.

"Kalas, stop, let's just go along with it…for now," Xelha whispered sternly, "if we cause a scene it will look like we did do it."

"That's unacceptable!" Sagi snapped at her. "What about Melodia-?!"

"Sagi!...Just for now, okay? Just for now…" Gibari said slowly, attempting to calm his friend.

Sagi growled a bit but bit his tongue, glaring at the ground off to the side as the guards surrounded them. The group allowed themselves to be huddled into a house, guards placed on the outside. As soon as they were alone, Sagi shouted and kicked the door violently, causing all his friends to flinch.

"Sagi! Calm down, you get bad when you're upset!" Guillo said, its yellow eyes glowing from under the red hood.

_**Sagi, listen to Guillo. If you freak out my hold on the afterling gets harder to control…**_

The boy backed up from the door, taking a few deep breathes to calm himself.

"Y…Yeah, I'm sorry-"

"No need to be, it's only natural," Savyna stated in her usual emotionless manner, "However, now we are presented with the problem of getting out of here. We are going to follow her, are we not?"

"Of course we are!" Milly scoffed.

"Why can't we just fight our way out?" Kalas raised an eyebrow. "We could take those guards easy."

"No, if we do that some people may get hurt!" Xelha scoffed. "We need to think of another way out of here."

Silence fell upon them for a brief moment…

"I…know this isn't a good time to ask," Lyude frowned, "But I can't help but wonder…if Melodia really is Sagi and Milliarde's daughter, why do the people of Mira call her 'Lady'? I thought that was a member of the duchy?"

"Well, that's easy," Milly rolled her eyes, "The Duke's my uncle."

Yet more silence.

"Say what?!" Kalas gasped, his jaw dropping.

"W- What? I didn't know that-" Gibari began, also stunned.

"Sagi and I were heading to Mira because that's where I had family," she shrugged, "Since father died…well, I didn't want to go anywhere else, and Sagi wanted to get away from things for a bit too…"

"We thought Mira would be best," Sagi explained, "Since it tends to be out of the way of most of the other nations and…it's disconnected, y'know."

"So that's what you went up to after I left?" Guillo hummed, leaning its weight onto its other side. "Got to say I haven't heard much about what happened afterward."

"Y- Yeah, sorry about that…" Milly frowned.

"We don't really have time to be sorry," Sagi frowned a bit, looking around their prison, "We need to get out of here- it could have been Giacamo who took her!"

"So you see why I hate the guy-?" Kalas began.

"I've got it!" Gibari shouted suddenly, effectively startling them all.

The man stopped and then smiled sheepishly as all of his traveling mates rose an eyebrow at him, wondering if perhaps he had received a head injury in their last fight.

"S…Sorry, but I think I got a way to get out of here!"

"Really?" Sagi's eyes lit up, obviously intrigued.

"Yeah, spill it!" Milly shouted, placing her hands on her hips to demonstrate her impatience.

"Well…this house is made of candy, isn't it? We can just eat our way out!"

They all stared at him.

Kalas laughed.

"That's brilliant!" he grinned. "All right-..but uh…who's gonna eat it?"

"What?" Gibari blinked.

"Well…eating a wall of sugar…." the swordsman frowned a bit, "That'd make me sick in one sitting, to be honest."

"Yes…I was not allowed sweets as a child, so I'd prefer not to as well…" Lyude smiled apologetically, blushing just a bit.

"I- I'll pass too, y'know…girls and sweets…" Xelha blushed brightly, lowering her head as she began to fiddle with her fingers.

"I don't mind sweets, but even I'll pass on eating a mass of nothing but sugar," Savyna stated, closing her eyes as she leaned against the wall.

"Would, but I have no mouth," Guillo pointed outl.

"Wh-?! Then why are you always saying you're gonna eat people?!" Milly scoffed, performing her signature stomp.

"Because it sounds intimidating and I can," Guillo snapped.

"Why don't we let Sagi do it-?" Kalas started.

"Dear gods, no!" Guillo blared, alarmed. "Gena never let him have sugar as a child, and for good reason!"

"H- Hey…that was when I was little…" Sagi chuckled nervously, glancing away.

"No, Sagi, no, I'd rather see you as an afterling again," it shook its head.

"Afterling?" Kalas raised an eyebrow.

"H- Hey! Why don't I do it?!" Milly grinned.

"What?" Sagi stared at her.

"What? Why not? I don't mind," the bruntte beamed, flashing a wide, toothy smile at them, "It's like a dream come true! I'll totally eat through the wall! No sweat!"

"Well, it's settled-" Kalas started.

"Sweet-!" Milly pumped her fist in the air.

"Gibari will eat the wall."

"What?!" both brunettes shouted, eyes wide.

"H- Hey! She said she'll do it, why do I have to?!" Gibari moaned.

"Why can't I?! I don't mind!" the girl whimpered.

"Because I'm scared to death of the thought of you sugar-high or with an upset stomach," Kalas said flatly, "At least Gibari we can knock out, you'd be a bit more crazy."

"Agreed," Guillo said.

"Guillo! Don't agree with that prick!"

"Don't I get a say in this-?" Gibari asked.

"No!"

"Well fine…"

Thus it was Gibari was munching through the wall several minutes later, Milly sitting cross-legged on the floor with a down-right toddler like pout on her face.

"Lucky duck," both brunettes muttered under their breath.

**SO yeah…n.n' Hope that didn't' feel rushed at all? Was worried it might…**** Bt that aside, hope it was enjoyable…**

**Lol, Sugar…X3**

**Guillo: Review if you will…we-**

**(Is bashed into the floor)**

**I AM SO SICK OF THAT! GET A NEW PHRASE! DX**

**Guillo:…Bitch.**


	14. Chapter 14

…**.You should all expect this from me by now. The only reason I updated is I FINALLY beat that plant afterling for the second time….thus as my game has broken through the block, thus has the story.**

**Guillo: Excuses.**

**Me: XP**

**Guillo: Freakyanimegal owns nothing.**

"You ate through the wall? Are you insane?"

"Well that's debatable," Guillo shrugged, not phased by Trill's shrill shriek of surprise.

"Not like I wanted to…" Gibari groaned, holding his stomach.

"I did," Milly huffed, crossing her arms across her chest with a huff.

"S- Sorry about that," Sagi frowned, "We'll fix it when this mess is all cleared up, okay, Trill? We need to hurry and save Melodia-"

"Oh, yes, that's what I thought," she nodded, "I just knew you guys wouldn't do something like that, so I came to try to help you break out but…you beat me to it I guess. Now come on! If we don't hurry we'll get caught."

"Yeah, lardball, come on," Milly scoffed, lightly punching Gibari's arm as she climbed through the hole.

"My stomach…dear gods…" he whimpered.

"Sorry, Gibari," Xelha smiled weakly, attempting to help him up, " But we have to hurry-"

"Yeah yeah, I'm going…gonna take more than this to stop me after all" the man smirked weakly, doing his best not to grimace as a result of his aching stomach.

"Maybe we should have let Milly do it…" Kalas wondered.

"No way in hell," Guillo scowled, "That would have been like teasing an Oliphant."

"Let's stop chatting and hurry on," Savyna stated, easily jumping through the hole.

"Yes, we need to hurry," Xelha nodded, quickly following the elder woman

So the group made their way quickly out of the confectionary village, though they had to stop once they were out seeing as Gibari went into a sudden round of vomiting. It passed quickly though and after some urging from the fisherman that he was fit for duty, they continued onwards.

It wasn't too long before they arrived in another…unusual, village. The place seemed to be something out of a pop up children's book, and odd, bug-eyed robotic creatures roamed around. One in particular seemed to be a little more…eccentric, than the rest, seeing as he was screaming about the end of the world, about the coming wrath of- what else- Malpercio.

_**Ugh, this again? First that old hag in Nashira and now- whatever the hell that is.**_

_Just calm down, Marno, it's not like anyone knows…_

_**Tch…**_

"Okay, let's ask around and see if anyone has seen Melodia," Kalas said, looking around, "Someone must have seen something, they said they had headed up this way after all."

"Wow, just looking at this place is giving me a headache," Milly groaned, rubbing her forehead.

"I rather like it, it's amusing," Guillo tilted its head, examining a strange object that was growing out of the ground.

"Of course you would, dingbat."

"We don't have time for this!" Sagi sighed. "Milly, she's in danger-"

"Hu-? Oh! Right, right! Come on, everyone, let's get going!" she nodded, running off quickly to the nearest person.

"Now she's acting like it was all her idea," Guillo shook his head.

They went through the village quickly, but they had yet to find anything of use. That is until they entered a rather odd looking shop, where a fortuneteller gazed into a crystal ball. The group had barely walked forward when she looked up and spotted Kalas, and her eyes narrowed.

"This man has no magnus within him," she said flatly.

Their attention was immediately procured.

"What-? Don't be silly, of course he has one," Xelha frowned, "Everyone in this world has a magnus within them."

"Yeah- what are you talking about?" Kalas huffed, immediately on the defensive. "Of course I do! I'm right here, aren't I? I exist so I must have a-"

"Then…you must not be of this world," she concluded, scanning him intently.

"What? That's ridiculous, geez," Milly put her hands on her hips, rolling her eyes, "I mean even if he is a grade A asshole, even still he should have-"

"That puppet…has a magnus," she said, her eyes locking on Guillo.

"What-? Are you insane, lady? You're saying the puppet has a magnus but I don't?" Kalas growled, slamming his hands on the table. "Who are you anyway? How do we know you can even sense that anyway?"

"Someday you will know who you really are," she said, eyeing him intently, "What you really are."

"This is bullshit," he scowled, backing up and turning to leave, briskly walking to the door, "Come on guys, we don't have time for this anyway."

The rest of the group hesitated, glancing after him and then at the old woman, unsure. Xelha was the first to follow after him and the remnants of the group followed after, Sagi and Guillo hesitating just a bit, eying the old woman.

"You can tell I'm alive? Hm.." Guillo mused, "Well if you're right about that…that's…interesting…"

"I suppose so, puppet," she nodded, scanning him, "You and your cursed friend should leave now…I do not wish to be in your presence."

Sagi flinched.

_**I'm really starting to hate old hags. **_

They quickly turned and left the old woman to her conjuring.

"Guys, we got a lead!" Milly said as they exited.

"We just heard a few soldiers talking," Savyna stated, "They say Melodia has been taken to the Shrine of Spirits."

"The Shrine-?" Sagi blinked.

"It's where Kalas met his guardian spirit," Xelha stated, "I'm sure he'll be able to show us the way there then, right?"

Kalas nodded.

"Yeah, follow me, let's be snappy about it too, the thought of Melodia stuck with those assholes isn't something I like to think about."

"Seconded!" Milly said. "Let's go!"

Kalas led them to the woods that were named as the Shrine, and all things considered they managed to make very good time as well. Despite that, Kalas and Sagi still seemed a little distracted .Kalas, no doubt because of the fortunetellers words, but Sagi…it was a little difficult to place. It could have been because he was called cursed again, but then, he had heard that so many times it was getting repetitive, thus it was left to assume that since the girl they were trying to rescue was his future, child, that was the cause for his discomfort.

It was a little of both, really.

Being called cursed again had reminded him of his situation once more, and that in trun made him think of his future child. What effect would that have on her, he wondered? Having a father as a malidieter, as Malpercio? Was his child…cursed as well? Was there something wrong with her? What if Giacamo and the others had taken her because of something like that? What if they knew about the Malidieters, what if they wanted to experiment on her or something? He gritted his teeth and quickened his pace, trying to cover as much ground as possible without losing the others. The woods were dark, and monsters teemed in the roots and trees, so he knew he couldn't just run blindly into them. Dying in the woods would do no good, especially since it'd very well change history….

Luckily they managed to find them easily enough.

"Melodia!" Kalas shouted as they entered the clearing, drawing his blades.

"Oh! It's you!" Melodia gasped a bit, scanning the group quickly.

"Well well, if it isn't Kalas and- why if it isn't that stupid machina of yours, Sagi," Giacamo smirked, eyeing Guillo. "Who else is going to show up, dare I wonder? Old Baelheit's ghost?"

Milly stiffened.

"You- shut up, you bastard!" Milly scowled, whipping out her cudgels.

"Hmph, well the little beanpole has some bite to him now, it looks instead of just barks," Guillo huffed, getting into an offensive stance itself. "At least he got rid of that stupid little robin hood hat."

Giacamo's eye twitched.

"You used to wear what, boss-?" Ayme eyed him.

"Silence!" Giacamo snapped, taking out his scythe. "I'll punish all of you, though I'll leave you alive…I need to ask you something in particular, Kalas…"

"Wait! Don't fight! You can't fight here!" Melodia shook her head. "You'll anger the spirits! You can't-"

"Shut up, wench!" Giacamo snapped, smacking the girl upside the face and knocking her to the ground

"Ah-!" she yelped.

Sagi and Milly were not pleased.

"You-!" Sagi growled.

"Why you son of a-!" Milly shouted, charging in.

She stopped after a couple steps when the ground began to shake violently. The entire group stopped and tried to keep their footing, panicked as the forest began to glow and shift around them.

"What the-?"

"The spirits are upset!" Melodia cried. "Your hatred and violence is tearing apart the stability!"

Before she had even finished another whirling hole akin to the one they had passed through to get to Mira appeared behind them, yet another snake-like creature wriggling its way out into the world.

"Well that's certainly ugly," Ayme smirked weakly.

"Yeaaaah…I don't think I want to deal with that, boss," Folon shrugged, "What say we let them handle it?"

"I couldn't agree more," Giacamo smirked, "We'll finish this some other time, then? I look forward to seeing you again, Kalas, Sagi."

"Wait! Come back here! You coward!" Kalas shouted.

"No time for that!" Gibari scoffed. "Kalas we need to save the little lady!"

"R- Right," Kalas gritted his teeth, turning back to the creature.

"Sagi, can't you just get this one to go like you did the other one?"

The Malideiter didn't get a chance to consider it, seeing as the creature had lunged at Melodia. Sagi quickly unfurled his wings and swooped by, picking her up and taking her out of harm's way, gently sitting her on her feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked, hands on her shoulders ,scanning her quickly.

"Y- Yes- you have to stop it, it's enraged," she said, "if you can exhaust it enough maybe it will go back."

"D- Don't worry about it," Sagi said, scanning her over quickly.

Yes, she looked like Milly…her cheeks, her lips, but there was something about her that was his as well, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He wanted to spend some more time there, just looking at her, trying to pick apart what part of him was in this girl that he and Milly would someday bring into the world.

"M- mister? What are you doing? The creature-"

"Oh! Yes, right! Sorry!" he blurted, hurrying to the frontline with the others.

He quickly whipped out his blade, noting the frenzied motions of the creature. Yes, this one was different than the one he had fought earlier, Melodia was right, they wouldn't be able to make this one go without some violence.

"This isn't going to be a cakewalk," Savyna stated.

"Hmph, sure it will, you don't like snakes in your cake?" Guillo chuckled.

"Eh, I'd handle it if it were eels," Gibari shrugged.

"Shut up and let's kill this thing!" Kalas snapped.

With that he rushed in, slashing at the creature's exposed body. Xelha quickly began to cast a spell, Lyude releasing a volley of bullets at its head. The group danced and slashed around it, hammering it from every angle. It screeched and slid out further from the portal, revealing more of its serpentine body in an attempt to slide away from the attacks and have an opportunity to retaliate.

_**Sagi! Left!**_

He dodged just in time to avoid the projectile it had shot at him, quickly scanning for an opening.

"I've got this," Guillo declared, "Stand back."

The familiar spear of light appeared in the puppet's hand, flying through the air and piercing the creature in its head, followed by a barrage of several light discs and then finished with a giant ball of energy.

The creature began to writhe, shrieking and flailing.

"Hey, I think that's your cue, Sagi," Gibari said, chancing a glance back at the teen.

"Right-"

They were taken by surprise when Melodia stepped forward instead. The girl stepped between them, her arms outstretched.

"Stop! Calm down…please calm down…" she said softly, cooing it.

"What…?" Lyude stared a bit.

"It's all right, calm down…you're fine now, aren't you?" she cooed, smiling softly. "You can go home now, this is no place to be, now is it? Not here…not yet…you can go home now."

The serpent regarded her a moment and then backed up, slinking through the portal where it came. No one seemed to catch the brief two words she had said to it, but Marno did.

_**Not yet? What does she mean not yet?**_

_Huh? I didn't hear her say anything like that, what are you talking about?_

_**She said 'not yet'…**_

"Wow, she …made it leave," Lyude stared.

"Yeah well…given…certain things…" Kalas frowned, eying Sagi.

Had he passed it on somehow? Oh no…it was what he was afraid of…

"Ugh-" Melodia staggered.

"Melodia!" Kalas ran forward, catching her. "Are you all right?'

"Oh- yes, I'm fine, just a little tired," she smiled weakly, "Thank you, stranger…"

It was just then when several of Mira's militia made their way into the clearing.

"Lady Melodia! There you are!" they cried.

"Unhand Lady Melodia at once-!"

"No, no, you have it all wrong," she shook her head, pleading, "These travelers rescued me, the people that kidnapped me were from Alfard, I fear they've gotten away already…"

The troops hesitated a moment before rushing up to the Duchess-to-be, quickly checking her for injuries, fretting over her.

"Wow, you can tell the people here really love her," Xelha noted, watching the group.

"Yeah…" Milly uttered, biting her lip.

"I'm just glad she's all right," Sagi nodded, trying to push back the nagging thoughts that had brewed in his head.

"We shall escort the lady back to her home, our apologies or accusing you."

"Please, stop by when you have the chance," Melodia smiled, "I'd like to thank you for all your trouble."

"Oh- It was…no trouble at all, your ladyship," Sagi smiled weakly.

"Yeah well just don't make a habit out of it," Kalas rolled his eyes.

"Kalas! I'm sorry about him, Lady Melodia," Xelha bowed her head, clasping her hands together in her lap. "He's a little on the rude side.."

"Oh no, I don't mind at all," she smiled, "I look forward to seeing all of you later."

Everyone watched as Melodia and her escort as they left, only when she was out of sight did they chance a sigh of relief.

"Well, at least we got that over with," Gibari smiled.

"Still, the empire is on the loose and they won't rest until they get the End Magnus of this island," Savyna stated, crossing her arms.

"They already have Sadal Suud's and Diadem's," Xelha bit her lip, "If they get this one, and assuming they have their own island's, then that means the only one they need is the one we have."

"Correct, it's the upmost importance that we keep our End Magnus out of their hands," she nodded.

"Yeah, well, I don't plan on giving it up anytime soon after all," Gibari smirked.

Just then did they notice Kalas shuffling through his pockets, a rather desperate expression on his face.

"Hey? Kalas what's the matter?"

"It's…gone."

Silence.

"Gone? What's gone?" Milly blurted, her eyes widened.

"The End Magnus…it's-"

"Gone? What?" Gibari shouted, his eyes widening. "It can't be gone- are you crazy? That- "

"It is, it's gone!"

_**WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN IT'S GONE?**_

_Are you sure? Kalas did you check-?_

"How the hell do you drop a giant golden glowing Magnus?" Gibari snarled, eyes flaring red under its hood, pointing out a lengthy finger accusingly.

"Hey, if you don't believe me, look for yourself! Since when was I in charge of all our stuff anyway?'

"Kalas is right, this is all our faults…" Xelha frowned. "We have to find it!"

They scoured everywhere in Mira that they had gone, finding no clue as to the whereabouts of their most important possession. Eventually their search took them back to the MIndeer, where they conducted another sweep before meeting in the cabin.

"How could we drop it? What if someone picked it up-?" Xelha began.

"Are you sure you 'lost it', Kalas?" Savyna stated, eyeing him.

"What?' he blinked.

"Wait…you think..someone stole it?" Lyude stared. "But who could have gotten close enough to take it?"

"Giacamo and his creeps didn't get close enough to manage that, and we would have noticed it," Milly frowned deeply.

"What about that weird guy? That 'Child of the Earth' or whatever?" Kalas asked.

"What? Huh…I don't think so, never got anywhere near our stuff," Gibari shook his head.

"Who else could have taken it?"

"..We have to acknowledge the possibility it may have been one of us," Savyna said flatly.

"W- What?" Xelha stared, appalled at the very thought.

"What? But- you mean…you think there's a traitor?" Kalas stared.

"If no one got close enough to the group then that leaves only the possibility that it was one of us," she frowned.

"Have to admit it, that seems logical enough," Guillo said, putting its hands on its hips.

"W- well it certainly wasn't me!" Lyude blurted.

"Woah, buddy, calm down," Gibari frowned, "Nobody is accusing you, we know you're not really with the Empire."

"I- It couldn't have been me, right?" he looked away. "I'm not under that spell anymore…am I?"

"Hey, the doctor said you were cured, remember?" Kalas said. "We trust you Lyude."

"Still, it could be anyone who took it…however…"

Savyna slowly looked at Sagi, and the rest of the group followed. The teenager stiffened.

"What-? Why-"

"Sagi well…you…do have a connection to them-" Xelha fidgeted.

"Hey! Don't you dare accuse Sagi!" Milly huffed, her hands on her hips. "Besides, if he DID take it he would have gone all weird again, right? I mean, when he touched it last he started kicking our asses and all, if he had it on him now don't you think he'd be busy cutting us up right now?"

"Yes, listen to the wench," Guillo nodded.

"I have to say, I agree…" Kalas shifted his weight. "But then…who did it?"

"L- Look, maybe they did somehow take it, and they wanted us to start fighting amongst ourselves," Xelha pointed out, "If we don't trust each other than we won't stand a chance, we only got this far by helping each other…we need to keep trusting each other or we will never stop them."

"Yeah….Xelha's right," Kalas nodded.

"Let's trust each other…for now," Xelha said.

But Sagi caught the look she gave him. He hadn't done it, though, he'd known of he did it, or if something made him do that, right?

…Right?

…**Finally. I updated this. …I swear I won't ever take this long to update again.**

**Thanks for the people that still read/remember this lol**


	15. Author NotePreview

**Well I reckon I have some explaining to do. First off I obviously broke my 'I won't take a year to update' promise, again, and secondly you're probably all wondering if I just plain out forgot this fic existed, well to answer your question…**

…**Yeah, I did basically forget that this fic existed. Well, sort of, you see, I decided to put this fic on hiatus about a year and a half ago. Thing is, I just looked at it and realized that I never PUT 'hiatus' on this fic, so no one knew I was…well, putting it on hiatus.**

**For that, I beg and scrape at your feet, groveling for your forgiveness and am overcome by shame. I am very, very sorry to any of you who still read this, I do not have a chapter written up yet, but in the time being I will give you a preview of the chapter to come. Again, I am very, very, very sorry about this. So embarrassed…please enjoy this preview, and I'll have the full chapter put up after finals (May)**

…**Please don't hurt me**

"I think before we do anything else we should probably bring something up…" Kalas said, frowning a bit as the group looked at him.

"Huh? What is it?" Milly asked.

"….I really don't think you guys should be going with us anymore," Kalas said flatly. "I mean I guess Guillo can , but do you guys really think it's best of the two of you are wandering around Balancoire where everybody knows you as your older selves?"

"You really think we'll be recognized?" Milly frowned.

"Well Melodia recognized you well enough…nearly," Xelha bit her lip.

"That and has no one really thought about this? They're from the past, don't we all know that if we mess around with the past we'll screw up the future?" Kalas huffed. "Seriously, I can't be the only one who's thought of that! If they go back knowing something they shouldn't about the future, won't that mess up our time? I know they've already figured out a lot but…given as far as we know the world hasn't like, imploded, I'm guessing it's not too late to keep them out of this before it does screw things up that bad."

"Well…what do you expect us to do then?" Milly scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. "Just sit around? That's not going to get us back, and what happens if the End Magnus do get released? It doesn't matter where we are, if they get released…well we don't know for sure but given what we've seen it's _not_going to turn out well with Sagi."

"Yeah…I mean, we can't just ditch them somewhere," Gibari said.

"Well since the beginning we tagged along because we were hoping to find out a way to get back," Sagi said. "Since you all are searching everywhere on all the islands- everywhere we haven't been anyway, we thought we'd find something….besides trouble."

"Obviously it hasn't worked out like that but…." Milly added.

"Well fine then, think about it this way," Kalas said, "This is the city that you guys were going to live in the rest of your life, don't you think knowing about your personal futures will affect something? It's already bad enough that you guys know about Melodia being your daughter and all."

_**I hate to admit it, but I think he's got a point there, Sagi.**_

_I agree. Maybe you two should just wait in the Mindeer? _

"Hm…well..what do you guys think?" Sagi looked to the others.

"I…no offense but I do think you guys should wait here," Xelha said with a frown. "I'm very uneasy about this…our End Magnus going missing, you guys going into Balancoire…besides, if this island's End Magnus shows up in Balancoire-"

"We don't want a repeat of what happened in Anuenue," Savyna cut in curtly.

Milly glared a bit, defensive of the Malidieter as the swordsman himself went quiet, considering what they had all said.

"…Besides if my Uncle Calbren is there..yeah I don't think me showing up twenty years younger than I should be will do anything for his heart," Milly finally admitted with a sigh, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Then it's settled, sorry guys, we'll try to be quick about it," Gibari said.

"I'll stay here with them then," Guillo spoke up.

"Fine by us, you'd probably just draw attention anyway." Kalas shrugged.

"Hmph."

So it was that shortly after, the rest of the group had left the Mindeer leaving the original trio sitting about the lounge, suddenly very quiet. Milly was sitting on one sofa and was oddly twitchy, Guillo pacing the room while Sagi quietly sat sharpening his sword. It was unusually quiet, unearthly so, the only sounds being Milly's nervous tapping of the armrest and the scraping of the grindstone along Sagi's blade. It had to have been only ten minutes at most, but it felt like an hour before Milly spoke up.

"Is it just me or have we not done 'nothing' since-….have we ever not done anything?"

"…No, I guess not," Sagi bit his lip. "I mean…we've rested and stuff but that was always 'resting' just before we go off and do something dangerous again."

**Again, I'm sorry it's not a lot but I figured it's better than nothing. The chapter will be up in a little over a month.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Okay! As promised here's the next chapter, I hope it makes up for the long wait…**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

"I think before we do anything else we should probably bring something up…" Kalas said, frowning a bit as the group looked at him.

"Huh? What is it?" Milly asked.

"….I really don't think you guys should be going with us anymore," Kalas said flatly. "I mean I guess Guillo can, but do you guys really think it's best of the two of you are wandering around Balancoire where everybody knows you as your older selves?"

"You really think we'll be recognized?" Milly frowned.

"Well Melodic recognized you well enough…nearly," Delhi bit her lip.

"That and has no one really thought about this? They're from the past; don't we all know that if we mess around with the past we'll screw up the future?" Kalas huffed. "Seriously, I can't be the only one who's thought of that! If they go back knowing something they shouldn't about the future, won't that mess up our time? I know they've already figured out a lot but…given as far as we know the world hasn't like, imploded, I'm guessing it's not too late to keep them out of this before it does screw things up that bad."

"Well…what do you expect us to do then?" Milly scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. "Just sit around? That's not going to get us back, and what happens if the End Magnus do get released? It doesn't matter where we are, if they get released…well we don't know for sure but given what we've seen it's _not_going to turn out well with Sagi."

"Yeah…I mean, we can't just ditch them somewhere," Gibari said.

"Well since the beginning we tagged along because we were hoping to find out a way to get back," Sagi said. "Since you all are searching everywhere on all the islands- everywhere we haven't been anyway, we thought we'd find something….besides trouble."

"Obviously it hasn't worked out like that but…." Milly added.

"Well fine then, think about it this way," Kalas said, "This is the city that you guys were going to live in the rest of your life, don't you think knowing about your personal futures will affect something? It's already bad enough that you guys know about Melodia being your daughter and all."

_**I hate to admit it, but I think he's got a point there, Sagi.**_

_I agree. Maybe you two should just wait in the Mindeer? _

"Hm…well..what do you guys think?" Sagi looked to the others.

"I…no offense but I do think you guys should wait here," Xelha said with a frown. "I'm very uneasy about this…our End Magnus going missing, you guys going into Balancoire…besides, if this island's End Magnus shows up in Balancoire-"

"We don't want a repeat of what happened in Anuenue," Savyna cut in curtly.

Milly glared a bit, defensive of the Malidieter as the swordsman himself went quiet, considering what they had all said.

"…Besides if my Uncle Calbren is there..yeah I don't think me showing up twenty years younger than I should be will do anything for his heart," Milly finally admitted with a sigh, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Then it's settled, sorry guys, we'll try to be quick about it," Gibari said.

"I'll stay here with them then," Guillo spoke up.

"Fine by us, you'd probably just draw attention anyway." Kalas shrugged.

"Hmph."

So it was that shortly after, the rest of the group had left the Mindeer leaving the original trio sitting about the lounge, suddenly very quiet. Milly was sitting on one sofa and was oddly twitchy, Guillo pacing the room while Sagi quietly sat sharpening his sword. It was unusually quiet, unearthly so, the only sounds being Milly's nervous tapping of the armrest and the scraping of the grindstone along Sagi's blade. It had to have been only ten minutes at most, but it felt like an hour before Milly spoke up.

"Is it just me or have we not done 'nothing' since-….have we ever not done anything?"

"…No, I guess not," Sagi bit his lip. "I mean…we've rested and stuff but that was always 'resting' just before we go off and do something dangerous again."

"Perhaps we should take advantage of it," Guillo said. "These situations tend not to last very long-"

There was a knock on the cabin door.

"Hello? I have a message from Lady Melodia for 'Kalas' friends'?"

"Speak of the devil," Guillo muttered, shifting its weight to the other leg.

"I'll get it," Milly said, answering the door to the courier who waited there.

The man bowed his head once, holding out the message.

"From the Lady, she said it was an urgent matter."

"Did something happen to our friends?" Sagi asked, getting to his feet.

"To my knowledge, your companions left with the Lady on her own vessel, she asked me to bring you this, that is all I know."

Milly thanked him and took the message, the man leaving as soon as he was dismissed. The brunette opened the letter and scanned it, her eyes slowly widening as she read as her already fair skin went all the more pale. Sagi frowned, concerned about the look on his girlfriend's face.

"Milly? What happened?"

"I…Sagi, you need to look at this," she whispered, staring at the paper.

The swordsman frowned but took the letter from her, scanning it as the young woman gathered close to his side. Sagi wondered for a moment what could have gotten that reaction from her, but the letter made that clear soon enough.

_Dear Mother and Father,_

_Yes, I know who you are. Your companions didn't reveal your secret to me, but I had little trouble figuring it out as it was. I understand Kalas and his companions wished you to stay away from this scenario but I tell you, you must do otherwise. Kalas is heading for the Lava Caves in Alfard, where the final End Magnus resides, Geldoblame will likely beat them to it. I tell you now, you must come. I cannot express how important it is that at least you, Father, are there. I know of your link to Malpercio and how you fear how it may affect you but you must come, there are far more important matters at work. If you have any hope of fixing your timeline you must, I stress, must be there. Hurry as fast as you can to the Lava Caves, I will be waiting for you._

_ ~Melodia_

"How did she know?" Milly asked, visibly upset.

Sagi frowned, his mind racing. How HAD she known? And what did she know about Malpercio and the End Magnus? What had Kalas told her?

_**Something doesn't seem right…**_

No, it didn't, he agreed with Marno and the unsettling feeling in his gut backed that doubt. Still, if Melodia knew who they were she must understand the situation, she wouldn't ask them to come unless it really was important. She even said it was the only way to fix their timelines…what did she know of that? Then again she probably knew more than they did, given that she was their future….

"Well let's go," Milly said suddenly.

"W- What?" Sagi shook his head. "Milly we can't just- something isn't right, we need to think about this-"

"She said they need our help and if she's going there it'll be dangerous, she'll need help and I'm not trusting her to Kalas and the rest of them," the brunette said in an unusually stern fashion, her hands on her hips.

"You look like a mother Oliphant about to trample someone," Guillo commented.

In a way, she was, though Sagi wouldn't dare to voice his agreement. 'Mama Bear' Milly was definitely an intimidating sight to behold. It was obvious the young woman wasn't about to take no for an answer, and Sagi had to admit that his concern for their future daughter was making him inclined to agree with her.

"All right, let's get the ship headed for Alfard, let's see how close to Azha we can land."

_**I hope you know what you're doing, Sagi**_

"I do too," he muttered under his breath.

Azha hadn't changed much, but that wasn't really any sort of comfort. If anything, things had gotten even worse since the last time they had been there. Dust blew through the streets and children were begging for magnus on the corners; despite being poor the village had, in the past, been very productive at least. Despite the harsh conditions they still made a living, even that seemed to have been taken from the people now. Milly was visibly upset but the scene but urged their group straight to the caves, set on making it to the End Magnus to find Melodia before the Empire showed up.

"Milly, what if they wake the magnus?" Sagi has asked her quietly at one point. "What if I lose it again? Maybe I really should stay behind…."

"I thought we discussed this," Guillo said. "If this last magnus is released, it won't matter where you are, Sagi. You could be in Mira, or Hasselah or in Duhr and it would still affect you. If it doesn't matter where you are you might as well be where you can help prevent it being unsealed to begin with."

Sagi sighed, rubbing his face and giving a short nod to agree with his old friend. They were right, everything came down to this last magnus. If they failed there would be much more at stake than what happened to just him…

_**I'm not exactly sure what will happen, to be honest…they keep saying the End Magnus are the parts of the 'god' but they aren't even the parts of one being. The one we had was Thoran's chest and in Diadem those were Pieda's legs. What do they expect? To just merge a bunch of parts together that didn't go together to begin with?**_

"I don't know, Marno, I don't know," Sagi shook his head, frowning. "I just know it'll be bad, no matter what happens."

_**Yeah…just…be careful, all right? I'll do what I can to protect you but I …I don't know what it'll even do to me.**_

That was not a comforting thought.

In fact his discomfort was growing the further into the caves they got; it wasn't just the intense heat but rather that unsettling, twisting feeling in the pit of his heart. He had felt it once or twice before, most noticeably when he was in Mintaka, and he had turned into an afterling… Sagi quickened his pace. The sooner they got there and stopped the End Magnus from being released, the sooner they could leave and that horrible feeling would fade. To his horror, from the sounds up ahead, he gathered they were too late. There was the sound of guns shooting and an inhuman roar of agony shortly before they emerged into the cavern.

Then suddenly found themselves surrounded by Imperial guards

"Oh, I was beginning to worry you wouldn't show up, my dear, beloved parents."

The trio flinched, staring at the sickeningly sweet smile on the pale girl's face as the soldiers pointed guns at them.

"Now now, don't hurt them," she said to the guards. "Just make sure they don't get away, I can't have my parents dying before they give birth to me, that wouldn't do."

"M- Melodia?! What's going on?! What are you doing?!" Milly gasped.

Sagi quickly scanned the area. They were completely surrounded by imperial soldiers that apparently were at Melodia's command, to make matters worse, Kalas and the rest of the group were likewise surrounded; yet that still wasn't the worst part, oh not by a long shot.

The worst part was the five End Magnus, circling together just behind Melodia. At the sight of them his throat clenched and he nearly fell to his knees, his eyes locked on the floating magnus above him. How- how had he not felt it before? It was so clear now, the pulsing, horrible feeling coming from the Magnus and their dreadful light. It was like- before, not even his before, before in Marno's memory, with the dark brethren, their corrupt, pulsating, suffocating light-

"Sagi? Sagi!"

He had fallen onto his hands and knees without even realizing it, Milly helping him to sit up as he struggled to calm his racing heart.

"It's already affecting you so, dear father? Don't worry, it will be over soon."

"What are you doing?! Melodia you can't release the End Magnus! Especially with Sagi here! If you know what he is you know you can't-!"

"Hush now," Melodia interrupted, tsking. "Such a loud, emotional girl aren't you? Well no matter, back to business. You've done well, my friend, you may come forth and claim your reward."

She directed this to the other group as well, ignoring the blonde mage. If Sagi wasn't so busy trying to make his head stop spinning, he would've noticed the looks of shock and betrayal on his friends' faces as they realized that there was indeed a traitor in their midst. He heard shouts and accusations followed by an unnerving silence as the traitor revealed himself.

Kalas.

_**That son of a bitch! I knew he was no good!**_

_Wh- what? _Sagi heard Latara's shock._ Kalas- you can't have- what are you talking about?_

"Latara didn't know anything about it," Kalas said, apparently someone had just accused the guardian spirit, Savyna, apparently.

It was hard to keep track, the only clear voices he heard were Marno and Latara, the others were mumbled, cacophonous, he couldn't even get his own thoughts straight much less have paid attention to everyone else's.

He only broke from the fog when a violet light flashed and a searing pain shot through his chest. Sagi screamed, clutching his head and forcing himself to look at the source of his agony. It was Kalas, Kalas surrounded by the light coming from the End Magnus as they circled around him. Dimly he heard Marno's voice, broken, nonsensical, and a sorrowful cry from Latara as Kalas' winglet dropped to the ground and a new wing grew in its place. Both wings grew large, even larger than Sagi's mother's, glowing bright white. As the light faded it became clear the manic, unearthly blue glow in Kalas' eyes.

_**Lost it**_

It was a broken thought but Sagi didn't have to hear the rest of it to get what his 'spirit' was telling him. Kala had gone insane, it was horrific, how he laughed and taunted Xelha, Latara, all the others.

"Isn't he wonderful? Kalas' ascension marks the dawn of a new, glorious era!" Melodia exclaimed, joy clearly ringing in her voice. "The start of course, just the start…the true beginning will be here shortly. Malpercio is present here, after all! While the body of Malpercio is not, one of Malpercio's mind is among us! Am I not right, dear Father?"

Sagi felt all color bleed from his face, staring up at the manic grin on his daughter's face. No, no this was all wrong. What was she doing?! Why was she like this?!

"Melodia- ah!"

Soldiers grabbed him and hauled him forward, other pulling Milly and Guillo back, holding them against their will.

"Let me go! What are you doing with him!? Sagi! Melodia, stop it! What are you doing?!"

"Now don't' hurt her," Melodia tsked. "My mother must be kept safe."

"M- Melodia-" Sagi tried to talk but his throat was clenched, as if he was choking. "Melodia, stop, please-"

"Oh don't worry, Father…you will not be harmed," Melodia smiled 'sweetly' down at him. "I'm just going to help the sibling god inside you break free. It may hurt a bit but you'll be untouched after, then you and mother can be put away safely until we can send youback."

_**Sibling god-break free? What- no! No, stop her! She can't do that! We're fused! If she removes me we'll both die!**_

Sagi struggled desperately but found he had less and less strength the closer the guards brought him to the circling End Magnus and their light. It was like it was sapping the energy out of him yet…filling him with something else at the same time.

"Stop-" he choked.

A hand gripped his collar and he was lifted off his feet, staring up at the glowing, demented eyes of Kalas.

"You're lucky we need you alive, I've been wanting to end you for a long time you mouthy little bastard." Kalas smirked, the dementia in his eyes seeming to flare with the very thought of inflicting pain.

"Kalas-" the boy choked, gasping. "Please, listen to me, you-"

"Hurry up would you, dear Kalas? I would rather we get a move on, we have a busy schedule after all. Be gentle with Father though, do."

The next thing Sagi knew he hit the dirt, thrown onto his back with such force his wings burst forth and he choked, staring up at the roof of the cavern and the increasing purple glow from the End Magnus, which had begun to circle above him.

"No- no-" he choked weakly in place of a shout. "No-"

_**NO! NO NO NO! STOP! SOMEONE! STOP THEM!**_

It was like being struck by lightning. The purple light shot down at him, surging into his chest, throughout his entire body. He screamed, writhing on the ground in agony. He was going to die, they were both going to die-

"Wait- what is that? That light?" he heard Melodia shout.

Sagi couldn't open his eyes, couldn't tell what light she meant, but Marno's voice rang clear in his mind- clearer, it seemed, than usual.

_**The charm- Sagi! It's the charm Corellia gave you back in Anuenue! **_

Briefly he remembered, flashing back to the castle when the ageless queen presented the talisman to him

"_I do not know what it can do but I know it is powerful, and you are in need of it more than anyone when Malpercio resides in your heart."_

Screams shattered his memory, his, though he couldn't tell in his agony. The purple light was being overwhelmed by another, golden light from the charm around Sagi's neck. The two lights seemed to struggle with another, jerking in and out before both dissipated in a blinding white flash.

When it cleared, the End Magnus had ceased their light and the charm around Sagi's neck had shattered. None took notice of that though given something far more interesting had happened. Beside Sagi, another young man with blue hair lay. He was older than Sagi, perhaps a little bit younger than Kalas. No one could know except the unconscious Sagi that the young man was in fact the figure from his dreams, Marno, laying unconscious on the ground donned in brown and red, his hair in a ponytail and a scarf around his neck.

"Oh…well that is a relief," Melodia said with a smile. "Things worked out as they should, I was beginning to think that little trinket had interfered."

"Wh…what the…?" Milly whispered, stunned.

"They split?" Guillo stared.

Sagi's eyes opened slowly, glazed looking. Then the other male stirred too, just a moment, before his eyes snapped open.

Eyes whirring with the same manic blue light as Kalas'.

…**Yes I cliffhangered you. I take this long to update and I cliffhanger you…**

…**Sorry? **


End file.
